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SEC Enforcement Actions

					
The  (SEC) is the United States agency with primary responsibility for enforcing federal securities laws. Whistleblowers with knowledge of violations of the federal securities laws can submit a claim to the SEC under the SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, and may be eligible to receive 聽monetary rewards and protection against retaliation by employers.


Below are summaries of recent SEC settlements or successful prosecutions. If you believe you have information about fraud which could give 聽rise to an SEC enforcement action and claim under the SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, please contact us to speak with one of our experienced whistleblower attorneys.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
April 17, 2023

				 Jonah Engler and Barbara Desiderio, already enjoined from further violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act, will pay over $5 million in disgorgement, interest, and civil penalties for illegally trading in retail customer accounts as their company, Global Arena Capital Corp., was going out of business. Engler, Desiderio, and two others caused customer losses of over $4 million, while generating over $2.4 million in unlawful markups, markdowns, and commissions for Global Arena. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Regulatory Violations, 
													  Securities Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 30, 2023

				 Siblings John and Jonatina Barksdale offered unregistered crypto asset 鈥淥rmeus Coin鈥� securities through their multilevel marketing scheme called Ormeus Global. The pair produced social media posts, YouTube videos, and other promotional materials, while John held roadshows around the world to promote the securities. Defendants claimed Ormeus Coin had a quarter-billion-dollar mining operation, mining $5.4 to $8 million per month, but the mining operation generated less than $3 million in total revenue, and mining operations ceased. The Barksdales were ordered to pay over $46 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest of $10 million, and a civil penalty of $23 million each. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
													  Ponzi Schemes, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 28, 2023

				 One of the largest iron ore producers in the world, Brazilian mining company Vale S.A., has agreed to pay $55.9 million to settle charges of making false and misleading disclosures concerning the stability of its dams.聽 One of the dams in particular, Brumadinho, failed to meet international safety standards and subsequently collapsed in January 2019, killing 270 people.聽 The settlement consists of $25 million in civil penalties and disgorgement, and $30.9 million in pre-judgment interest.聽 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 28, 2023

				 James K. Couture, a Massachusetts-based investment adviser, defrauded his clients of nearly $3 million from 2009 to December 2019, convincing them to sell portions of their securities to fund large money transfers to an entity Couture controlled鈥攁 detail not shared with his clients. Couture consented to a final judgment enjoining him from future violations of the securities laws鈥� antifraud provisions. Couture will spend 100 months in prison and was ordered to pay approximately $4.7 million in restitution and forfeiture for his deceptive, Ponzi-like scheme. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
													  Ponzi Schemes, 
													  Securities Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 23, 2023

				 The co-founder of formerly registered investment adviser International Investment Group (IIG), Martin Silver, has been ordered to pay over $2.3 million in disgorgement and over $240,000 in prejudgment interest, which will be deemed satisfied upon the payment of restitution and forfeit of assets ordered in a parallel criminal proceeding against him in the Southern District of New York.聽 Silver was found to have grossly overvalued the assets in IIG鈥檚 flagship hedge fund, and falsely reported that certain loan assets were legitimate and fairly valued when in fact they were not.聽 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 23, 2023

				 Back to Green Mining, LLC and its two managing members, Jos茅 闯颈尘茅苍别锄 Cruz and Manuel Portalatin, have been ordered to pay about $2 million in disgorgement, $411,000 in prejudgment interest, and $1 million and $207,000 in civil penalties respectively, after the SEC charged them with offering and selling unregistered securities for a so-called 鈥済reen鈥� mining venture in Colombia.聽 While soliciting investors, 闯颈尘茅苍别锄 and Portalatin allegedly advertised exorbitant returns and falsely represented that permits necessary to mine gold had already been procured.聽 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 13, 2023

				 Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. and its former finance director, Imran Parekh, have been ordered to pay an $8.5 million civil monetary penalty for materially misstating the company鈥檚 reported revenues by nearly $12 million in 2017 and 2018.聽 According to the SEC, Parekh inflated Evoqua鈥檚 reported quarterly and year-end revenue by improperly including uncompleted sales numbers from earlier periods.聽 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 9, 2023

				 Blackbaud Inc., which provides donor data management software to non-profits, has agreed to pay $3 million for allegedly failing to maintain internal disclosure procedures and for omitting material information about the scope of a 2020 ransomware attack in a publicly-filed report.聽 Although company employees learned that sensitive information affecting 13,000 customers were accessed within days of the attack, they failed to inform senior management, resulting in the company downplaying the effects of the attack.聽 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Misrepresentations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 24, 2023

				 Energy & Environmental Investments, LLC (鈥淓EI鈥�) and Energy & Environment, Inc. (鈥淓&E鈥�) have agreed to pay $3.4 million in disgorgement, nearly $1 million in prejudgment interest, and over $1 million in civil monetary penalty to settle SEC charges of conducting a fraudulent securities offering.聽 A parallel criminal case was filed in California Superior Court in 2021 against EEU鈥檚 CEO, Amir Sardari, and former Vice President of Investor Relations, Narysa Luddy, which both have pleaded guilty to.聽 According to the SEC, EEI employed high-pressure tactics to solicit investments, then misappropriated about 47% of the $9.3 million raised from over 200 investors to cover payroll, marketing, Luddy鈥檚 personal expenses, and payments to prior investors.聽 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Ponzi Schemes, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 16, 2023

				 Derivative clearing organization (DCO) The Options Clearing Corporation (鈥淥颁颁鈥�) has been ordered to pay $17 million to the SEC and $5 million to the CFTC for its failure to establish, implement, maintain, and enforce policies and procedures to manage operational risks related to its automated systems, in violation of numerous rules and regulations, including the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations called DCO Core Principles.聽 Due to those deficiencies, between 2019 and 2021, OCC鈥檚 Clearing Fund was underfunded by $200 million to nearly $600 million.聽 OCC previously settled other charges with the SEC for $15 million and the CFTC for $5 million.聽 ; 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, 
													  Regulatory Violations, 
													  Securities Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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