Articles Posted in SEC Enforcement Actions

MassMutual to Pay $1.625 Million after SEC Investigation Highlights Prior Insufficient Disclosures about Annuity Product MassMutual Changes Product Before Any Investors Harmed The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company with securities law violations for failing to sufficiently disclose the potential negative impact of a “cap” it placed on a complex…

SEC v. BP p.l.c., Case No. 2:12-cv-02774 (E.D. La. Nov. 15, 2012). BP TO PAY $525 MILLION PENALTY TO SETTLE SEC CHARGES OF SECURITIES FRAUD DURING DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged BP p.l.c. with misleading investors while its Deepwater Horizon oil rig was gushing into the Gulf of Mexico…

Securities and Exchange Commission v. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, EMC Mortgage, LLC, Bear Stearns Asset Backed Securities I, LLC, Structured Asset Mortgage Investments II, Inc., SACO I, Inc., and J.P. Morgan Acceptance Corporation I, Civil Action No. 1:12-cv-01872 (RLW) (D.D.C. filed Nov. 16, 2012) SEC CHARGES J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC WITH MISLEADING INVESTORS IN RMBS…

SEC Charges Miami-Based Adviser with Hiding Trading Losses and Diverting Client Funds The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a Miami-based investment adviser for defrauding his clients by concealing trading losses and diverting investor funds for personal use. The SEC alleges that Anand Sekaran and his firm Wasson Capital Advisors Ltd. fabricated documents showing illusory…

SEC Charges Executives and Auditor of Electronic Game Card Company with Fraud Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged three executives with repeatedly lying to investors about the operations and financial condition of an Irvine, Calif.-based company that purported to sell credit card-size electronic games. The SEC also charged the company’s independent auditor with…

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ellis, Civil Action No. 0:12-cv-62211 SEC Charges South Florida Man with Recruiting Victims of Ponzi Scheme The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a South Florida man with defrauding at least 14 investors by soliciting them to invest in a Ponzi scheme. A significant number of the victims were members…

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Stanley B. McDuffie (f/k/a Stanley Roberson and Stanley Battle) and Jilapuhn, Inc., d/b/a Her Majesty’s Credit Union, LLC, Civil Action No. [1:12-cv-02939] (D. Colo., filed November 8, 2012). SEC Charges Purported Credit Union and Its Principal with Offering Fraud Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil injunctive action…

Securities and Exchange Commission v. MedLink International, Inc., Aurelio Vuono and James Rose, Civil Action No. 12 Civ. 5325 (E.D.N.Y.) SEC Charges Medlink International and Two Executives with Fraudulent Filing The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that it filed a civil injunctive action against MedLink International, Inc., its CEO, Aurelio Vuono, and its CFO,…

Securities and Exchange Commission v. James C. Mulholland, Jr. and Thomas S. Mulholland, Civil Action No. 12-cv-14663 (E.D. Mich., filed October 22, 2012) SEC Charges Two in Michigan-based Fraudulent Securities Offering The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that it filed a civil injunctive action against brothers James Mulholland and Thomas Mulholland accusing them of…

In the Matter of Ryan M. Jindra Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) announced that the Commission issued an Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions (Order) against Ryan M. Jindra (Jindra). The Order finds that during at least 2008…