The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that it has charged a former chief information officer of a U.S. business unit of Equifax with insider trading in advance of the company’s September 2017 announcement about a massive data breach that exposed the social security numbers and other personal information of about 148 million U.S.…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has charged foreign affiliates of KPMG, Deloitte & Touche, and BDO for their involvement in audit work that circumvented the full oversight of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The firms agreed to settle the charges by paying penalties or disgorging their profits from the…
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has informed the public that it has charged a Dallas-based oil-and-gas company and two of its executives with defrauding investors out of at least $950,000 through a string of fraudulent oil-and-gas securities offerings. The SEC’s complaint, which was filed yesterday in federal court in the Northern District of Texas,…
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A California-based audit firm is being charged with conducting flawed audits and reviews of financial statements, which are critical sources of information for investors, SEC announced earlier today. The SEC’s Enforcement Division alleges that Anton & Chia LLP and its accountants ignored numerous indications of fraudulent financial reporting by three of the firm’s audit clients…
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a popular New York sports radio personality as well as another New York City man with stealing millions of dollars from investors who were allegedly promised that their funds would be used for the purchase and resale of concert tickets. In a complaint filed in federal district…
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a former broker with knowingly or recklessly trading unsuitable investment products in the accounts of five customers and misappropriating more than $170,000 from one of those customers. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Demitrios Hallas repeatedly traded unsuitable investments in his customers’ accounts, exposing customers who were unsophisticated with…
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a California-based attorney with defrauding investors seeking to participate in the EB-5 immigrant investor program, stealing their money to buy a yacht and prop up his other businesses. The SEC alleges that Emilio Francisco raised $72 million from investors in China solicited through his marketing firm PDC Capital…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced enforcement actions against 71 municipal issuers and other obligated persons for violations in municipal bond offerings. The SEC found that from 2011 to 2014, the 71 issuers and obligated persons sold municipal bonds using offering documents that contained materially false statements or omissions about their compliance with continuing…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that four private equity fund advisers affiliated with Apollo Global Management have agreed to a $52.7 million settlement for misleading fund investors about fees and a loan agreement and failing to supervise a senior partner who charged personal expenses to the funds. An SEC investigation found that the Apollo…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a stockbroker and his friend with participating in an insider trading scheme to profit in advance of two major announcements out of a pharmaceutical company. The SEC alleges that Paul T. Rampoldi coordinated the insider trading with two other brokers at his firm as well as a then-IT executive…
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