Category: SEC

Brokers to Face $97 Million in Oil Securities Claims

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Two men who helped sell interests in oil securities in a bankrupt oil company in California face $97 million in oil securities claims with charges of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud, and negligence.

Behrooz Sarafraz and Alfred Lopez were sued in 2013 after $97 million in securities of Tri-Valley Corporation were sold. Approximately $95 million of the securities were sold through unlicensed brokers who were paid commissions unlawfully.

Sarafraz and Lopez worked together and were aware of the alleged misconduct, according to attorneys for investors. The two men marketed and sold Opus investments, which were special investments sold in $1 million increments but then broken down into smaller parts via aggregators.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigated Sarafraz for the oil securities claims, resulting in a judgment finding that he violated securities laws in connection with his sale of Opus investments.

Call a Los Angeles Securities Fraud Attorney Today

If you invested with Behrooz Sarafraz, Alfred Lopez, or in Tri-Valley Corporation, you may have certain legal rights that require your immediate attention.

Contact an experienced Los Angeles securities fraud attorney today for a consultation to discuss your rights and options.

SEC Whistleblower Program Awards Anonymous Tipster

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The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it awarded $17 million to a former company employee whose tip was instrumental in the SEC’s investigation and subsequent enforcement proceeding. No details of the enforcement have been made public.

The award is the second largest payout ever under the SEC’s relatively new whistleblower program. The terms of the program provide anonymity for would-be tipsters to encourage reporting. Based on awards which range from 10-30% of the sanctions the agency secures, it appears that the action brought in between $56 million and $170 million.

This award continues a recent trend of company insiders who have been rewarded for alerting the SEC about potential securities law violations. In the past month alone, $26 million has been awarded to five anonymous tipsters who blew the whistle on companies that were violating securities laws.

Any money paid to tipsters comes from the monetary sanctions of securities law violators, not from harmed investors.

Call a Los Angeles Whistleblower Attorney Today

If you have information that your company is violating securities law, you may be eligible to receive an award if your information leads to sanctions, and your information will remain anonymous.

Contact an experienced Los Angeles whistleblower attorney today for a consultation to discuss your rights and options.

JSG Capital Charged in $10M Ponzi Scheme

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Two California men have been charged with defrauding $10 million from retail investors by promising exclusive investment opportunities “previously only available to the one-percent.”

The SEC filed a complaint against Jaswant “Jason” Gill, founder and CEO of JSG Capital Investments, and Javier Rios. Both men have been accused of pocketing at least $2.8 million in investor funds, using at least some of investors’ money to pay for meals at high-end restaurants, trips to Las Vegas, and tickets to professional sporting events.

JSG Capital billed itself as a “boutique advisory firm” with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. Investors were told that they could secure annual returns of up to 60% by investing in tantalizing pre-IPO stocks including Airbnb, Uber, and Alibaba.

The JSG Capital website enticed investors by promising access to alternative investment strategies previously reserved for the ultra-rich, and touting their Wall Street experience – Gill’s biography claimed he had been a managing director at Morgan Stanley.

According to the SEC, Morgan Stanley has never employed Gill and Rios has a background in the food service industry, not financial services.

Rios and Gill also have been charged with criminal wire fraud in addition to operating a Ponzi scheme. Less than 1% of investor funds were actually transferred to JSG trading accounts.

Call a Los Angeles Securities Fraud Attorney Today

If you invested with Gill, Rios, or JSG Capital, you may have certain legal rights that require your immediate attention.

Contact an experienced Los Angeles securities fraud attorney today for a consultation to discuss your rights and options.

SEC Freezes Trader’s Assets Over Fake Filing

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The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued a Pakistani trader, securing an emergency asset freeze. The SEC alleged that the trader manipulated the stock of a Silicon Valley tech company by issuing a fake securities filing in order to profit on his call options.

Nauman A. Aly is alleged to have created a fake report in the SEC’s securities filing system in order to turn a quick profit on call options he owned relating to shares of Integrated Device Technology Inc. (IDTI). In a matter of minutes, Aly’s scheme would have netted profits of $425,000 if left unchecked.

According to the complaint, Aly purchased $18,500 in call options for IDTI on April 12, when the company’s share price was $19.01. The options expired three days later and had a strike price of $20, which means that Aly would have turned a profit only if the stock rose by at least one dollar.

In an effort to create a certain profit on his option trade, Aly obtained a unique key number allowing him to file regulatory forms with the SEC’s EDGAR system. He filed a fake form through EDGAR just eight minutes after purchasing his call options, which represented that he and six Chinese citizens collectively had acquired a 5.1% ownership interest in IDTI. Aly’s filing stated that his “group” sent a letter to IDTI’s board of directors offering to buy shares for a 65% premium on its share price.

Within minutes of his filing, the stock shot up more than 25%, rising to nearly $24, and Aly sold his call options. Though he made money, his entire scheme lasted less than 30 minutes. IDTI claimed it had no knowledge of Aly’s actions and never received a letter from him.

Have you suffered as a result of Securities Fraud?

If you invested suffered significant investment losses or were not made aware of the risks of investing, you may have certain legal rights that require your immediate attention.

Contact an experienced Los Angeles securities attorney today for a free consultation or case evaluation to discuss your rights and options.