South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog

In the Matter of Benjamin R. Daniels On December 6, 2012, the Commission issued an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and Desist Proceedings, Pursuant to Sections 15(b) and 21C of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and-Desist Order (Order) against Benjamin R. Daniels. The Order finds that Daniels,…

SEC Charges Florida-Based Lawyer with Forging Attorney Opinion Letters for Microcap Stocks The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced charges against a Florida-based securities lawyer for issuing fraudulent attorney opinion letters that resulted in more than 70 million shares of microcap stock becoming available for unrestricted trading by investors. An attorney opinion letter is required…

SEC Charges Prominent Entrepreneur in Miami-Based Scheme The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a prominent Miami-based entrepreneur with defrauding investors by grossly exaggerating the financial success of his company that purportedly produced housing materials to withstand fires and hurricanes. Claudio Osorio stole nearly half of the money raised from investors to pay the mortgage…

Precious Metals Fraud and Misrepresentation: CFTC Charges Hunter Wise Commodities, Lloyds Commodities, C.D. Hopkins Financial, United States Capital Trust, Newbridge Alliance, Blackstone Metals Group, and their Principals in Multi-Million Dollar Fraudulent Precious Metals Scheme CFTC alleges that defendants conducted illegal, off-exchange commodity transactions, and deceived customers in connection with financed transactions in precious metals The…

In the Matter of Angelo A. Alleca On November 29, 2012, the Commission issued an Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions against Angelo A. Alleca (Alleca) based on the entry…

SEC Charges Two Brokers With Insider Trading Ahead of IBM-SPSS Merger for $1 Million Profit The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged two retail brokers who formerly worked at a Connecticut-based broker-dealer with insider trading on nonpublic information ahead of IBM Corporation’s acquisition of SPSS Inc. The SEC alleges that Thomas C. Conradt learned confidential…

SEC Charges Chicago-Based Investment Adviser With Defrauding Investors in Failing Private Equity Fund The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a Chicago-based investment adviser and his firm with defrauding clients and others who were promised returns that would “beat the market” for investing in a private equity fund they managed. What investors didn’t know was…

SEC v. Joseph P. Cillo: The Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) recently announced that the Honorable James D. Whittemore, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa has entered final judgment against defendant Joseph P. Cillo (“Cillo”) of Dade City, Florida. The judgment permanently enjoins Cillo from further violations of Section…

SEC Charges China Affiliates of Big Four Accounting Firms with Violating U.S. Securities Laws in Refusing to Produce Documents The Securities and Exchange Commission recently began administrative proceedings against the China affiliates of each of the Big Four accounting firms and another large U.S. accounting firm for refusing to produce audit work papers and other…

In the Matter of Anand Sekaran: On November 30, 2012, the Commission issued an Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions (Order) against Anand Sekaran (Sekaran). On November 26, 2012, the…