DIRECTOR OF THE SEC’S DIVISION OF ENFORCEMENT ROBERT KHUZAMI SPEAKS

Remarks at SEC and Department of Justice joint news conference.
The following excerpt is from the SEC website:

January 27, 2012
“Good morning. Mortgage products were in many ways ground zero in the financial crisis.
Individual mortgages were pooled and sliced and diced into sophisticated securities that were a world away from the house, on a street, in a town somewhere in America where a family had realized their dream – the dream of buying a house they could call a home.

A few invested directly in these sophisticated securitized mortgage products, called Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS).

Many more had exposure to the performance of these investments, even if they did not own them directly, or had the performance of their other investments tied to these products.

Regardless of how they were connected to these products, many shared the belief that these investments were safe and secure, the right investment to protect their financial security, fund their retirement, and pay for their kids' education.

That turned out to be terribly wrong. These mortgage products suffered unprecedented losses, and the pain and loss that followed is known all too well.

The job of the SEC and my fellow law enforcement colleagues is to hold accountable those persons, those institutions who lied, who cheated and who misled investors in the sale of these products.
Every failure does not mean that the law was broken, but all of us are committed to identifying the violations that did occur and prosecuting them.

That is why I am so pleased to help lead the RMBS Working Group.
Now each of us here today may have different jurisdiction or different expertise but one thing unites us: a drive to do what it takes to make sure that our efforts leave no stone unturned, no dark corner unexposed to the light.

At the SEC, we have been incredibly busy in the pursuit of financial crisis cases.
We have focused on misconduct by those at the highest corporate levels and by institutions with the greatest involvement in the products, transactions and practices that gave rise to the financial crisis.
So far, we have filed actions against nearly 90 such individuals and entities involving public companies that failed to disclose the increasing risks in their mortgage businesses such as Countrywide, New Century, and IndyMac; against funds and investment advisers that made misleading disclosures when offering funds holding mortgage and other financial products such as Morgan Keegan, State Street Bank and Trust, Charles Schwab and Reserve Fund; against top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for failing to accurately disclose subprime exposure; and against banks making misleading disclosures about subprime exposure and the structure of even more complex mortgage products called CDOs such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase and Wachovia.

In these actions, we have named approximately 45 CEOs, CFOs and other senior corporate officers.
The SEC’s expertise and experience in mortgage products will be greatly enhanced by our participation in the RMBS Working Group.

We have a long history of successful collaboration with our law enforcement colleagues, including the Department of Justice, FBI, U.S. Attorney Offices, State Attorney’s General, and other authorities around the country. Many of us are on the phone with each other weekly, if not daily, moving our investigations forward.

And through the leadership of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which we have co-chaired since its creation in November 2009, we have strengthened these ties – sharing knowledge and leveraging skills and resources in a way that helps all of us to hold violators accountable.
Today’s announcement is another positive step in this direction.

The Working Group will enhance coordination, efficiencies and the sharing of expertise. It will ensure that we pool the different capabilities, resources, legal theories and remedies that each of us bring to the effort.
Information sharing and collaboration among the widest group of partners, including the State Attorneys General that are part of the Working Group, is in everyone’s interest.
To be clear, investigations into RMBS offerings have been ongoing at the SEC. Along with experts across the agency, we have a specialized unit dedicated to the effort.

We already have issued scores of subpoenas, analyzed more than approximately 25 million pages of documents, dozens and dozens of witnesses, and worked with our industry experts to analyze the terms of these deals and the accuracy of the disclosures made to investors.

We are looking for evidence that a firm failed to disclose important information when selling these securities – for example, misleading disclosures about the credit quality, conformity with underwriting guidelines, underlying property valuations, and delinquency and defects of mortgages in the RMBS pools.
These efforts will be greatly aided by the contributions from my fellow Working Group members.

Thank you.”

FOUR FORMER EXECS. AT MANUFACTURING COMPANY CHARGED WITH ACCOUNTING FRAUD BY SEC

The following excerpt is from the SEC website:

01/30/2012 03:18 PM EST
“Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2012 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged four former senior executives and accountants at the British subsidiary of an Indiana-based manufacturer of medical devices and aerospace products for their roles in an accounting fraud that was so pervasive that it distorted the financial statements of the parent company.

The SEC also reached settlements with the company’s former CEO and current CFO, who were not involved or aware of the scheme at the subsidiary, to recover bonus compensation and stock profits they received while the fraud was occurring and inflating company profits.

The SEC alleges that vice president for European operations Richard J. Senior, finance director Matthew Bell, controller Lynne Norman, and management accountant Shaun P. Whiteley orchestrated and carried out the fraud at Thornton Precision Components (TPC), which is the Sheffield, England-based subsidiary of NYSE-listed Symmetry Medical Inc. The accounting scheme involved the systematic understatement of expenses and overstatement of assets and revenues at TPC, and materially distorted Symmetry’s financial statements for a three-year period.

The four executives and accountants, as well as Symmetry in a separate administrative proceeding, agreed to settle the SEC’s charges, and the subsidiary’s two outside auditors formerly of Ernest & Young LLP UK agreed to suspensions for their deficient audits.
“The accounting fraud orchestrated by TPC executives had a ripple effect right up to the financials of the parent company. Symmetry shareholders were investing their money – and Symmetry and TPC executives were collecting their bonuses – based in part on inflated numbers,” said Stephen Cohen, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “We also found significant failures by two outside auditors, which helped this fraud to continue undetected. Accountants who practice before the SEC, including those who audit foreign subsidiaries of U.S. registrants, need to make sure their audits conform to U.S. auditing standards or they won’t be allowed to practice before the SEC.”
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in South Bend, Ind., Symmetry’s annual financial statements for 2005 and 2006 as well as other reporting periods were materially misstated as a result of misconduct in the reporting of TPC’s financials. Senior, Bell and Norman made false certifications as to the accuracy of the financial information reported to Symmetry by TPC, and lied to TPC’s outside auditors. Meanwhile, Senior and Bell each received bonuses and sold Symmetry stock at prices they knew or recklessly disregarded were fraudulently inflated by the accounting fraud taking place at TPC.
In a separate complaint also filed in the same federal court, the SEC is seeking reimbursement for bonuses and other incentive-based and equity-based compensation received by Symmetry’s former CEO Brian S. Moore under Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Under the settlement, subject to court approval, Moore agreed to reimburse $450,000 to Symmetry.
The SEC also instituted separate settled administrative proceedings against Symmetry and its CFO Fred L. Hite. The SEC finds that Hite failed to provide an internal audit status report concerning TPC to Symmetry’s Audit Committee in July 2006. Although the internal audit status report had not uncovered the fraud at TPC, it did raise the potential for deeper problems there. Hite also failed to reimburse Symmetry for bonuses, other compensation, and Symmetry stock-sale proceeds he received while the fraud occurred at the subsidiary (as required by SOX Section 304). Hite agreed to pay a $25,000 penalty and reimburse $185,000 to Symmetry. For its part, Symmetry agreed to a cease-and-desist order against future financial reporting, books-and-records and internal controls violations.
The SEC separately instituted and settled administrative proceedings against two associate chartered accountants in the United Kingdom – Christopher J. Kelly and Margaret Hebb née Whyte – who were the former audit partner and audit manager on Ernest & Young LLP UK’s audits of TPC for its 2004 to 2006 fiscal years (in the case of Kelly) and its 2005 and 2006 fiscal years (in the case of Hebb). The SEC’s order finds that Kelly and Hebb engaged in improper professional conduct by, among other things, failing to properly audit TPC’s accounts receivable balances and inventory. The order suspends both Kelly and Hebb from appearing or practicing before the SEC as accountants, with the opportunity to seek reinstatement after two years.
The SEC acknowledges the assistance of the United Kingdom’s Financial Services Authority in this matter.”

CFTC FILES AND SETTLES CHARGES AGAINST CENTURION GLOBAL CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC

The following excerpt is from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission website:

January 23, 2012
“Washington, DC - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that it filed and simultaneously settled charges against Timothy Michael Murphy of Redding, Conn., and his New York-based company, Centurion Global Capital Management LLC (CGCM), for fraudulently soliciting at least 40 customers to participate in a commodity pool.

The CFTC’s order requires Murphy and CGCM jointly and severally to pay both a $140,000 civil monetary penalty and restitution of $220,000. The order also permanently prohibits CGCM and prohibits Murphy for a five-year period from trading on a CFTC-registered entity and from registering or seeking exemption from CFTC registration.

The order finds that between about May 2009 and January 2010, CGCM, through Murphy, used a promotional sheet to solicit participants for their commodity pool, Centurion Multi-Strategy LP, that Murphy knew contained false and/or misleading information regarding the trading performance history of one of the two Commodity Trading Advisors that were to trade the pool’s futures accounts. Murphy sent and/or caused this fraudulent promotional sheet to be sent by email and other means to at least 40 pool participants, the order finds. From about September 2009 through July 2010, Murphy received approximately $220,000 from CGCM from the fees and commissions generated by the Centurion pool, according to the order. The Centurion pool was liquidated in or about July 2010, and the remaining funds were returned to pool participants, the order further finds.

The CFTC thanks the National Futures Association (NFA) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) for their assistance.
CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Joseph Rosenberg, Mark A. Picard, Sheila Marhamati, Philip Rix, Steven I. Ringer, Lenel Hickson, Stephen J. Obie, and Vincent A. McGonagle.”

GOVERNMENT GOING AFTER MORTGAGE FRAUDSTERS

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

“Friday, January 27, 2012U.S. Attorney General Holder, State and Federal Officials Announce Collaboration to Investigate Residential Mortgage-backed Securities Market

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder along with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director of Enforcement Robert Khuzami and New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the formation of the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group under President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF).

At the direction of the President, this Working Group brings together the Department of Justice (DOJ), several state attorneys general and other federal entities to investigate those responsible for misconduct contributing to the financial crisis through the pooling and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities.  This effort will be in coordination with and in addition to the ongoing efforts and investigations by the Justice Department, FFETF members and state and federal law enforcement investigating and prosecuting other types of financial fraud.

Attorney General Holder announced that the new Working Group will consist of at least 55 Department of Justice attorneys, analysts, agents and investigators from around the country.  Currently, 15 civil and criminal attorneys are part of the Working Group, along with 10 FBI agents and analysts who will be assigned to the Working Group efforts.  An additional 30 attorneys, investigators and other staff around the country will join the Working Group efforts in the coming weeks.  This team will join existing state and federal resources investigating similar misconduct under those authorities.

The goals of this collaboration will be: to hold accountable any institutions that violated the law; to compensate victims and help provide relief for homeowners struggling from the collapse of the housing market, caused in part by this wrongdoing; and to help Americans finally turn the page on this destructive period in our nation’s history.

“This Working Group brings together federal and state partners to strengthen current and future efforts to investigate and prosecute instances of wrongdoing in the residential mortgage-backed securities market,” said Attorney General Holder.  “With this focus on collaboration – and by bringing our government’s full enforcement resources to bear – I have no doubt that we will improve our ability to recover losses, to prevent fraud, to bring abuses to light, and to hold those who violate the law accountable.  That’s what the challenge before us demands, and that’s what the American people deserve.”
The working group will be co-chaired by senior officials at the Department of Justice and SEC, including Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, DOJ; Robert Khuzami, Director of Enforcement, SEC; John Walsh, U.S. Attorney, District of Colorado; and Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, DOJ.
The working group will also be co-chaired by New York Attorney General Schneiderman, who will lead the effort from the state level.  Other state Attorneys General have been and will be joining this effort.

“I am pleased to co-chair this important effort.  Each of us offers different tools and talents, but we are all united by a common and continuing desire to identify misconduct in the mortgage securitization process,” said SEC Enforcement Director Khuzami.  “The SEC has issued scores of subpoenas, obtained millions of documents, and interviewed dozens and dozens of key witnesses related to mortgage-backed securities.  This collaborative effort will enable us pool our knowledge and leverage our resources.”
“Millions of American families have been harmed by the foreclosure crisis,” said HUD Secretary Donovan.  “These families deserve justice.  They deserve relief.  That is why this investigation is so important.  With a new Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group led by Attorney General Holder and state leaders like New York Attorney General Schneiderman, we will build on the work of the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force by investigating misconduct we know led directly to the financial crisis.  And I’m proud that the Office of the HUD Inspector General David Montoya —which over the past year has been central to uncovering wrongdoing with respect to faulty foreclosure servicing practices—will play a critical role in the mortgage origination component of this review.”

“I would like to thank President Obama and Attorney General Holder for their leadership in combating financial fraud in this country and I look forward to co-chairing this working group that marshals state and federal resources to build on those efforts by bringing justice on behalf the victims of the misconduct that caused the mortgage crisis,” said Attorney General Schneiderman.  “In coordination with our federal partners, our office will continue its steadfast commitment to holding those responsible for the mortgage crisis accountable, providing meaningful relief for homeowners commensurate with the scale of the misconduct, and getting our economy moving again.  The American people deserve a thorough investigation into the global financial meltdown to ensure nothing like it ever happens again, and today’s announcement is a major step in the right direction.”
The Obama Administration is committed to ensuring that justice and relief are provided for the millions of American families harmed by the financial crisis.

President Obama created the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force by executive order in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.  With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud and bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources.

Since its formation, the Task Force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations.  Task Force members have charged a record number of  mortgage fraud cases in the past two years, trained more than 100,000 professionals responsible for awarding and overseeing Recovery Act funds and held regional summits around the country to discuss strategies, resources and initiatives as well as to meet with communities most affected by the financial crisis.”
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SEC ALLEGES HYPING STOCK PRICE SCHEME IN FLORIDA

The following excerpt is from the SEC website:

Washington, D.C., Jan. 26, 2012 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Fort Lauderdale-based firm and its founder with conducting a fraudulent boiler room scheme in which they hyped stock in two thinly-traded penny stock companies while behind the scenes they sold the same stock themselves for illegal profits.

The SEC alleges that First Resource Group LLC and its principal David H. Stern employed telemarketers who fraudulently solicited brokers to purchase stock in TrinityCare Senior Living Inc. and Cytta Corporation. While recommending the securities in these two microcap companies, Stern sold First Resource’s shares of TrinityCare and Cytta stock unbeknownst to investors who were purchasing them – a practice known as scalping. As Stern was selling the stocks, he also purchased small amounts in order to create the false appearance of legitimate trading activity and induce investors to purchase shares in both companies.
“First Resource and Stern used a telephone sales boiler room to make inflated claims and defraud investors while simultaneously manipulating the price of the stocks and making profits for themselves,” said Eric I. Bustillo, Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office. “The SEC will continue to aggressively pursue perpetrators of microcap stock fraud schemes that hound potential investors to buy stock.”
Since the beginning of fiscal year 2011, the SEC has filed more than 50 enforcement actions for misconduct related to microcap stocks, and issued 63 orders suspending the trading of suspicious microcap issuers. Microcap stocks are issued by the smallest of companies and tend to be low priced and trade in low volumes. Many microcap companies do not file financial reports with the SEC, so investing in microcap stocks entails many risks.

According to the SEC’s complaint filed against Stern and First Resource in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, they violated federal securities laws by acting as unregistered broker-dealers. Stern hired and trained First Resource’s salespeople and gave them information about TrinityCare to prepare sales scripts and pitch the stock to potential investors. Stern reviewed the draft scripts, made edits, and approved the scripts before the salespeople were allowed to use them.
The SEC alleges that Stern gave the salespeople a list of potential investors to cold call and pitch the stocks. First Resource’s salespeople falsely claimed TrinityCare stock “is going to be $5-7 in 6-12 months” and the company “is going to be a half-a-billion dollar company in five years or roughly a $40 stock.” Stern also disseminated a research report on Cytta to investors and falsely touted: “Sales projections for 2010-2014 should exceed $500 million with a pre-tax net of over $400 million.”
The SEC’s complaint alleges that First Resource Group and Stern violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Sections 10(b) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, and financial penalties as well as a penny stock bar against Stern.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Jorge L. Riera under the supervision of Elisha L. Frank in the SEC’s Miami Regional Office in coordination with an examination of First Resource conducted by Anson Kwong, Michael J. Nakis, George Franceschini, and Nicholas A. Monaco of the SEC’s Miami office. Edward D. McCutcheon will lead the SEC’s litigation efforts.
The SEC’s investigation is continuing."

SEC OBTAINS FINAL JUDGMENTS AGAINST BARAI CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AND OTHERS

 

The following excerpt is from the SEC website:

January 25, 2012

"The SEC announced that the Honorable Jed S. Rakoff, United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, entered a Final Judgment on Consent as to Noah Freeman on December 23, 2011, and entered Final Judgments on Consent as to Bob Nguyen, Samir Barai and Barai Capital Management on January 23, 2012, in the SEC's insider trading case, SEC v. Mark Anthony Longoria, et al., 11-CV-0753 (SDNY) (JSR).

This case alleges insider trading by ten individuals and one investment adviser entity, all of whom are consultants, employees, or clients of the so-called "expert network" firm, Primary Global Research LLC ("PGR"). The SEC filed its Complaint on February 3, 2011, charging two PGR employees and four consultants with insider trading for illegally tipping hedge funds and other investors. On February 8, 2011, the SEC filed an Amended Complaint, charging a New York-based hedge fund and four hedge fund portfolio managers and analysts who illegally traded on confidential information obtained from technology company employees moonlighting as expert network consultants. The scheme netted more than $30 million from trades based on material, nonpublic information about such companies as Advanced Micro Devices, Seagate Technology, Western Digital, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Marvell Technology Group Ltd. The charges were the first against traders in the SEC's ongoing investigation of insider trading involving expert networks.

The SEC alleged that Nguyen was a PGR employee who facilitated the transfer of material nonpublic information from PGR consultants to PGR clients and, in certain instances, acted as a conduit by receiving material nonpublic information from PGR consultants and passing that information directly to PGR clients. The SEC also alleged that Freeman, Barai and Barai Capital were among the recipients of the material nonpublic information supplied by PGR consultants and employees, and either traded on the information or directly or indirectly caused hedge funds they managed or were otherwise affiliated with to trade based on the information.

The Final Judgment entered against Freeman: (1) permanently enjoins him from violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5; and (2) orders him liable for disgorgement of ill-gotten gains of $833,480, together with prejudgment interest of $180,548, for a total of $1,014,028. Based on Freeman's agreement to cooperate with the SEC, the Commission did not seek a civil penalty. In addition, on January 20, 2012, the Commission issued an order on consent in a related administrative proceeding that bars Freeman from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer or transfer agent.

The Final Judgment entered against Nguyen: (1) permanently enjoins him from violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5; and (2) orders him liable for disgorgement of ill-gotten gains of $190,890.04, together with prejudgment interest of $11,449.16, for a total of $202,339.20. Based on Nguyen's agreement to cooperate with the SEC, the Commission did not seek a civil penalty. In addition, Nguyen has agreed to be barred in a separate administrative proceeding from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer or transfer agent, and from participating in any offering of a penny stock.

The Final Judgment entered against Barai: (1) permanently enjoins him from violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act"), 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5; and (2) orders him liable for disgorgement of ill-gotten gains of $3,000,000, together with prejudgment interest of $434,225.47, for a total of $3,434,225,47. Based on Barai's agreement to cooperate with the SEC, the Commission did not seek a civil penalty. In addition, Barai has agreed to be barred in a separate administrative proceeding from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer or transfer agent.

The Final Judgment entered against Barai Capital: (1) permanently enjoins it from violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act, 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5; and (2) orders it liable, jointly with Barai, for disgorgement of ill-gotten gains of $3,000,000, together with prejudgment interest of $434,225.47, for a total of $3,434,225,47."