Greetings-
Congress is back in town after the August recess, and action important to investors is picking up both in Congress and in the Courts. Moreover, as Congress seeks to alter the increasingly strong perception of dysfunction, it is hoped that it will finally move to provide relief. The fact that the court decisions and legal process have been damaging [...]
A government watchdog group has sued the Securities and Exchange Commission for destroying documents tied to preliminary investigations. In a suit filed against the agency and Chairman Mary Schapiro, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) charge that the agency has repeatedly violated the Federal Records Act by routinely destroying documents during preliminary investigations. Read more on The Hill [...]
A former fund of hedge funds executive has been barred from the financial services industry for her alleged role in a $4.7 million Ponzi scheme. Read FinAlternatives report [...]
A Florida man who was the top recruiter in a $930 million Ponzi scheme admitted in federal court in New Jersey Tuesday that he lied about his income to the IRS. Sydney Williams pleaded guilty to one count of subscribing to a false tax return. Read Miami Herald report [...]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was accused in a lawsuit by a government watchdog of illegally destroying documents from probes of Bernard Madoff, Bank of America Corp. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington yesterday asked a federal judge in Washington to order the commission and its chairman, Mary Schapiro, to preserve investigative records and attempt to recover files that were destroyed. Read Bloomberg Businessweek report [...]
A federal judge awarded both sides a partial victory Tuesday in the $1 billion lawsuit brought against the owners of the Mets by the trustee for the victims of Bernard L. Madoff — allowing the suit to go forward, but limiting how much money the trustee may ultimately be able to recover. Read more in the New York Times [...]
In a ruling that could have a far-reaching impact on lawsuits seeking money for Bernard Madoff’s victims, a federal judge threw out the bulk of claims by a court-appointed trustee who sought to recover about $1 billion from the owners of the New York Mets baseball team. The decision by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff limited—though didn’t eliminate—possible financial ramifications from the epic Ponzi scheme for one of Major League Baseball’s most valuable franchises. Read more in the Wall Street Journal [...]
Authorities are starting to return $55 million swindled from 8,500 victims of an internet-based Ponzi scheme, federal prosecutors say. The funds being returned were seized by federal agents in connection with a criminal investigation of Thomas A. Bowdoin Jr., a Florida resident who owned and operated “AdSurfDaily,” a purported on-line advertising firm. Read more in the Washington Post [...]
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Schapiro last week did something that gave everybody within earshot a warm and fuzzy feeling: She apologized! Well, OK, it wasn’t an apology as much as it was a description of an apology, which Schapiro had made to her fellow SEC commissioners. Read more on TheStreet [...]
A federal judge has thrown out lawsuits against money manager J. Ezra Merkin, who was accused by investors of funneling more than $2 billion to convicted Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff. Read more in the Wall Street Journal here. [...]