PNC Investments LLC, Securities America Advisors Inc., and Geneos Wealth Management Inc. failed to disclose conflicts of interest and violated their duty to seek best execution by investing advisory clients in higher-cost mutual fund shares when lower-cost shares of the same funds were available. The SEC also charged Geneos for failing to identify its...
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Category: Whistleblower Laws
Cryptocurrency investments spike S.E.C. concerns — investigators closing in
Bitcoins are gaining popularity across the globe, but they are also attracting the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC has handed down subpoenas to cryptocurrency projects like TechCrunch. According to Bitcoinist, the $100 million cryptofund is now under investigation. The investigation hints at the overall trepidation of governments around...
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Deloitte pays $150 million to settle whistleblower case that it failed to detect fraud by mortgage broker
Deloitte Touch will pay $150 million to resolve a case taken by the US Department of Justice alleging that it failed to detect a long-running fraud by a former mortgage broker. The case relates to Deloitte's role in the 2009 collapse of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW), a mortgage originator. Lee Farkas, TBW's founder,...
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Ariel Quiros to pay back $81 million over Vermont ski resort Jay Peak involving EB-5 immigrant investor program
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that the Miami-based businessman behind an alleged scheme involving investments in a Vermont-based ski resort has agreed to pay back more than $81 million of investor money that he used illegally.
According to an SEC complaint filed in 2016 in federal court in Miami,...
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News investigation reveals that DEA stripped of power by Congress taking millions from drug maker lobbiests
Big Pharma Knows How Laws Work and They Can Use Them Against the DEA
Why did Congress, in the middle of the greatest drug crisis in the nation pass a law that stripped the Drug Enforcement Administration of its ability to sue companies violating drug distribution laws? The answer...
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Potent new SEC Rule makes public companies disclose remarks and inquiries by independent auditors starting 2018
The Securities and Exchange Commission has passed a new rule requiring all public companies to disclose remarkds and inquiries by independent auditors starting in January 2018. The Wall Street Journal reports that the SEC's new rule has been in motion for a few years now, the real surprise is how quickly it will...
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Securities and Exchange Commission launches special unit to probe and prevent cyber threats and protect retail brokerage accounts
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a new and powerful unit to address "cyber-based threats and protect retail investors". Branding its new division the Cyber Unit, the SEC says it will focus on offenses related to:
Misconduct perpetrated using the dark web
Market manipulation schemes involving false information spread through...
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Owner of nursing home where 8 died in Hurricane Irma had history of fraud allegations including $15.4 mill settlement
The owner of the nursing home where eight patients died after the air conditioner stopped working during hurricane Irma, had a history of fraud charges including a False Claims Act case which was settled in 2006 for $15.4 million. In that case Dr. Jack Michel and five others were alleged to have agreed to...
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Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act 101–it protects Americans from unsafe cars and parts
The Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act is a law passed by Congress om 2015 which offers monetary rewards to auto industry insiders who report serious safety violations of cars. The law allows employees or contractors of a car manufacturer, parts supplier or dealership who report serious violations of federal safety laws to get up...
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News organizations and reporters targeted in new Department of Justice clampdown on leaks
United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced that he will be pursuing prosecutions against individuals who have leaked information that has resulted in a major threat to national security and that the DOJ may begin issuing subpoenas to media outlets that have reported information thought to be leaked. The number of leaks and...
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