SEC SETTLES WITH HEDGE FUND MANAGER IN PONZI SCHEME

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 
SEC Settles Action Against Oregon-Based Hedge Fund Manager Yusaf Jawed, Who Masterminded a Ponzi Scheme

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on Sept. 11, 2013, final judgments were entered against Yusaf Jawed and his two entities (Grifphon Asset Management, LLC and Grifphon Holdings, LLC), which enjoin them from future violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act, and Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder and order them to pay disgorgement and interest of $33,909,974. The Commission's previously filed complaint alleged that Jawed through the two entities he controlled masterminded a long-running, $30-plus million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 100 investors in the Pacific Northwest and across the country.

Based on the final judgment against Jawed, the Commission issued today an Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions that bars Jawed from association with any investment adviser, broker, dealer, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization.