1. On May 25, 2022, the SEC filed charges against Cornerstone Acquisition & Management Company LLC, Derren Lee Geiger and She Hwea Ngo for making false and misleading statements, committing other deceptive acts, and committing recordkeeping and compliance violations. Cornerstone, Geiger, and Ngo engaged in a scheme to deceive investors in Cornerstone’s private funds. Their … Read More

1. On April 28, 2022, the SEC charged publicly-traded asset manager Medley Management and its former co-CEOs, Brook Taube and Seth Taube, with making misrepresentations to investors and clients that created the illusion of Medley’s likely future growth. The respondents have agreed to settle the SEC’s charges and will collectively pay $10 million in civil … Read More

1. On March 31, 2022, the SEC obtained a final judgement against Gregory Lemelson, Lemelson Capital Management, LLC, and The Amvona Fund. Gregory Lemelson and Lemelson Capital Management, LLC were charged with making false statements to drive down the price of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. and profit from a short position in Ligand’s stock. Lemelson and … Read More

1. On February 28, 2022, the SEC filed an amended complaint (which is highly unusual) bringing additional charges against Ofer Abarbanel and Victor Chilelli in the scheme resulting in more than $77 million being returned to harmed investors. Abarbanel and Chilelli engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in an offshore fund. After promising to … Read More

1. On January 31, 2022, the SEC instituted administrative proceedings against Robert Van Zandt. Van Zandt participated in a scheme to sell more than $35.5 million in bogus securities to 250 investors. Rather than invest their moneys as promised, Van Zandt used his investors’ funds to pay earlier investors and satisfy personal expenses. This matter … Read More

1. On December 29, 2021, the SEC instituted administrative proceedings against Laurence Balter. Balter fraudulently allocated profitable trades to his own accounts to the detriment of several client accounts. Further, Balter falsely told his clients who invested in the Oracle Fund that they would not pay both advisory fees and management fees for the portions … Read More

On November 24, 2021, the SEC instituted administrative proceedings against Upright Financial Corp. and David Chiueh. Upright, as UPUPX’s investment adviser, and Chiueh made investments for UPUPX that were inconsistent with UPUPX’s classification as a diversified investment company, and UPUPX’s fundamental policy with respect to industry concentration as disclosed in its registration statement. Upright and … Read More

On October 29, 2021, the SEC charged BNZ, Brett Barber and Louis Zimmerle for fraudulently raising $13.5 million from more than 100 retail investors. BNZ, Barber, and Zimmerle told investor that BNZ was in the business of making investments in real estate and alternative investments and promising to pay investors significant returns, generally 10% per … Read More

  On September 30, 2021, the SEC charged Naseem Salamah, an investment adviser representative formerly associated with a state-registered investment adviser, with allegedly defrauding his advisory clients out of nearly $1 million.  Salamah stole more than $950,000 from at least three elderly advisory clients.  Salamah chose these three clients because he did not think they would … Read More

On July 30, 2021, Coburn & Meredith, a dually-registered investment adviser and broker-dealer, settled charges for its disclosure failures and misleading statements to clients regarding (1) fees received for advising clients to purchase and hold mutual fund share classes that paid fees pursuant to Rule 12b1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“12b-1 fees”) … Read More