Special Report: For private deals, no one is watching the watchdogs

From 2006 to 2009, Provident Asset Management raised $485 million from 7,700 investors who were drawn to its promises of annual returns as high as 18 percent on oil and gas assets. Law firm Mick & Associates helped. Provident paid Mick to provide “due diligence” reports to help brokers decide whether to recommend the investments to their clients. Brad Updike, a Mick energy-sector specialist, reviewed each of the 23 deals, known as private placements. In one of his reports, Updike wrote that while on a visit to the Dallas, Texas, company, Provident’s founder “showed me several strategic-planning maps” where efforts were under way to drill and complete wells. More on Reuters here.