In March, I began tracking here the SEC's trials to date in FY 2014 (which began on October 1, 2013), and the results in each case. On Friday, August 8, 2014, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida returned a verdict in favor of the SEC in what I believe to be the agency's 16th trial this year.

 

In the case, filed in 2010, the SEC alleged that Edward W.  Hayter orchestrated a pump-and-dump scheme involving the stock of BIH Corporation. The SEC claimed that Hayter drove up the price of BIH stock by disseminating false and misleading press releases and placing false information on BIH's website. After a four-day trial, the jury found in favor of the SEC on all counts.

 

Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, stated following the verdict that the agency was "pleased that a federal jury has found him liable for violating the federal securities laws. This is yet another victory in the Commission’s multi-pronged approach to combating microcap fraud.”

 

Including the Hayter case,the SEC's scorecard in FY 2014 now includes (to my knowledge) 16 trials. In those cases, the SEC now has four outright victories (in which it won on all of its claims), seven losses (in which it lost on all of its claims), and five mixed verdicts (in which it won on some claims and lost on others).

 

I will try to maintain an updated running list of the SEC's trials in FY 2014. Here is the list as it currently stands:

 

SEC v. Cuban:  VERDICT—FOR DEFENDANT (Oct. 2013)

SEC v. AIC  Inc.: VERDICT—FOR  SEC (Oct. 2013)

SEC v. True North Finance Corp.: VERDICT—FOR SEC (Oct. 2013)

SEC v. Kovzan: VERDICT—FOR DEFENDANT (December 2013)

SEC v. Jensen: VERDICT—FOR DEFENDANTS (December 2013)

SEC v. Schvacho: VERDICT— FOR DEFENDANT (January 2014)

SEC v. Yang: VERDICT—MIXED (January 2014)

SEC v. Steffes: VERDICT—FOR DEFENDANTS (January 2014)

SEC v. Life Partners: VERDICT—MIXED (Feb. 2014)

SEC v. DiGiorgio: VERDICT—FOR  SEC (Feb. 2014)

SEC v. Quan: VERDICT—MIXED (Feb. 2014)

SEC v. Jacobs: VERDICT—MIXED (March 2014)

SEC v. Wyly: VERDICT—MIXED (May 2014 and July 2014)

SEC v. Obus: VERDICT—FOR DEFENDANTS (May 2014)

SEC v. Moshayedi: VERDICT—FOR DEFENDANTS (June 2014)

SEC v. Hayter: VERDICT—FOR  SEC (August 2014)

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