May 31, 2016
By SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission (click here) today charged a Nashville, Tenn.-based investment advisory firm and its owner with scheming to collect extra monthly fees from a pair of hedge funds they managed.
Examiners in the SEC’s Atlanta office detected the misconduct during an examination of Hope Advisers Inc., which is owned by Karen Bruton. The SEC alleges that in order to circumvent the funds’ fee structure under which the firm is entitled to fees only if the funds’ profits that month exceed past losses, Hope Advisers and Bruton have been orchestrating certain trades that enable the funds to realize a large gain near the end of the current month while basically guaranteeing a large loss to be realized early the following month. Without the fraudulent trades, Hope Advisers would have received almost no incentive fees since October 2014.
“We allege that Hope Advisers and Bruton disregarded investors by engaging in a pattern of deceptive trades so they could continue earning large incentive fees,” said Walter Jospin, Director of the SEC’s Atlanta Regional Office.
Hope Advisers and Bruton have consented to an interim order that restricts them from accessing $7 million of their own investments in the funds, prohibits them from collecting any further fees unless they satisfy the high water mark in the funds’ fee structure, and restricts them from taking additional investments in the fund. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Hope Advisers and Bruton also are preliminarily enjoined from violating the antifraud statutes of the federal securities laws....
The fun just never stops.
May 31, 2016
By Jeff German
The administrator (click here) of two Las Vegas surgery centers pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to embezzling $1.3 million from physicians who invested in the clinics.
Robert Barnes, 50, who ran the Surgery Centers of Southern Nevada and other entities for the physicians, pleaded guilty to one felony count of embezzlement in connection with health care.
He remains free and has agreed to pay restitution to the clinics. His sentencing is Sept. 1
According to his plea agreement, Barnes gambled away $515,000 in casino cash advances he obtained with company credit cards. He also bought a $38,000 diamond ring with company credit cards and spent another $45,000 on personal travel and entertainment.
The $1.3 million was stolen from the clinics between 2010 and 2013, the indictment alleges.
The fun just never stops.
May 31, 2016
By Jeff German
The administrator (click here) of two Las Vegas surgery centers pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to embezzling $1.3 million from physicians who invested in the clinics.
Robert Barnes, 50, who ran the Surgery Centers of Southern Nevada and other entities for the physicians, pleaded guilty to one felony count of embezzlement in connection with health care.
He remains free and has agreed to pay restitution to the clinics. His sentencing is Sept. 1
According to his plea agreement, Barnes gambled away $515,000 in casino cash advances he obtained with company credit cards. He also bought a $38,000 diamond ring with company credit cards and spent another $45,000 on personal travel and entertainment.
The $1.3 million was stolen from the clinics between 2010 and 2013, the indictment alleges.
The clinics, one on West Twain Avenue and another on Burnham Avenue, began to struggle financially in 2010, the indictment states....
