Pastor Who Says He May Have "Misheard God" Charged with Crypto Fraud

Pastor accused of $3M crypto scam says he may have ‘misheard God’

An online pastor was charged with civil fraud for selling a cryptocurrency that regulators described as “practically worthless.” His explanation: God told him to do it — although it’s possible he “misheard.”

Colorado’s securities commissioner filed a legal complaint against Eligio Regalado, who goes by Eli, and his wife, Kaitlyn Regalado, last week. The couple raised nearly $3.2 million by targeting Denver’s Christian community with the cryptocurrency, marketed as INDXcoin, the complaint said.

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“The Lord said: I want you to build this,” Regalado said. “We took God at his word and sold a cryptocurrency with no clear exit.”

Goldman, Lazard Look to Ex-Spies to Gain an Edge in Volatile World

In the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 7, Jami Miscik awoke in her California home and flipped open her iPad to the shocking news of the Hamas attack on Israel. The Central Intelligence Agency veteran quickly rang up a pair of associates—a former leader of US Central Command and a former US Navy admiral—and crafted a response to the growing crisis, gaming various scenarios about a potential Israeli response and the broader effects it was likely to have.

The trio weren’t working for the CIA or any government agency. Instead, their advice was tailored for staff and clients of investment bank Lazard Inc. They soon provided online briefings for hundreds of the firm’s employees and prepared research outlining how the volatile situation might affect markets. “It was an immediate spring into action,” Miscik says. “It’s a baseline understanding, here are the things to watch: Does it expand? Does Hezbollah erupt? You come out of my line of work with honed instincts on what is really important and what is not.”

Miscik and her colleagues are among a growing legion of former spies, diplomats and soldiers shifting into banking….

Man Who Plundered Investors’ Money in $8.1 Million Ponzi Scheme Sentenced to 90 Months in Prison

Richard Lee Ramirez was sentenced in federal court today to seven-and-a-half years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that resulted in millions of dollars in losses to investors.

Between 2018 and 2022, Ramirez and his company, JMJ Capital Group (JMJ), obtained more than $8.1 million from dozens of investors and caused more than $5.4 million in losses through his scheme and misrepresentations.

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The defendant solicited investments by lying to investors. Ramirez made several different misrepresentations, telling various investors, for instance: JMJ purchased and resold personal protective equipment (PPE); factored accounts receivable; sold furniture to major home improvement retailers; and contracted with a cruise line to rebuild and refurbish ships’ air conditioning units. JMJ did no such business.

Ramirez promised investors high short-term and medium-term returns on their money—between 10 and 30 percent—but they never received those returns. Ramirez also falsely told investors they could withdraw their money at any time, and sent them fake funding agreements and falsified account statements to carry out the scheme.

SEC ‘Gag Orders’ at Risk as Skeptical Court Takes Up Challenge

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s controversial policy of silencing defendants who settle with the agency is under fire once again, as a federal appeals court wary of regulators weighs a constitutional challenge.

The SEC has long allowed parties to settle cases brought by the agency without admitting wrongdoing. But they must also promise not to publicly deny the SEC’s allegations—a policy that’s prompted pushback from SEC targets like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban.

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“I don’t know that there would be a more significant impact that I could imagine on SEC enforcement when it comes to getting cases resolved,” said Scott Mascianica, a Holland & Knight LLP partner and former SEC attorney.

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The “no-deny” policy—often referred to as the Gag Rule—will be back in the spotlight next month, when the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit hears arguments in a case challenging the policy. The challenge was brought by Christopher Novinger, a financial planner and radio host from Texas.

Former Police Chief And Doctor Plead Guilty To Insider Trading Around Alexion Pharmaceuticals’ Acquisition Of Portola Pharmaceuticals

According to the allegations in the Indictment and statements made in public court proceedings:

In 2020, CRONIN, FELDMAN, and others engaged in an insider trading scheme surrounding the announcement of Alexion’s acquisition of Portola. In April 2020, before that acquisition was publicly announced, CRONIN’s childhood friend, a then-vice president at Alexion, misappropriated material, non-public information (“MNPI”) about the acquisition and provided it to CRONIN so that CRONIN could profitably trade in securities.

In turn, CRONIN, who, at the time, was a police sergeant in Dighton, Massachusetts, and went on to become the police chief, provided another friend with the MNPI about Portola’s pending acquisition, both so that that friend could trade in advance of the acquisition and so that that friend would assist CRONIN in formulating trading strategies to maximize CRONIN’s trading profits.

The friend CRONIN tipped was a physician who went on to tip his friend and colleague, FELDMAN. FELDMAN, for his part, aggressively bought Portola call options and also tipped at least five additional individuals who traded on the tip.

Women’s Boardroom Gains Keep Them Decade Away From Parity

Women keep reaching new highs in America’s boardroom — but they’re still a decade away from reaching parity.

While women occupied a record 33.5% of S&P 500 companies’ board seats at the end of last year, the ratio was 50-50 or more at just 29 companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

At the current pace, the gender ratio won’t reach parity until 2032 as last year’s gains were below the pace set in 2019 and 2020, when boards responded to heightened activist pressure by adding more women and people of color. What’s more, the recent conservative-led backlash has had a chilling impact on some corporate diversity initiatives.

SEC Enforcement of Cryptocurrency Reaches a New High

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to view cryptocurrency-related enforcement as a top priority, bringing 46 enforcement actions against various digital-asset market participants in 2023, according to a Cornerstone Research report released today. This number is the highest since 2013 and a 53% increase from 2022. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, the SEC brought 20 actions, the highest number in a single quarter.

The report, SEC Cryptocurrency Enforcement: 2023 Update, found that, of the 46 enforcement actions, the SEC brought 26 litigations in U.S. federal courts and 20 administrative proceedings in 2023. There were more than triple the administrative proceedings from last year, and the number of litigations increased slightly. The SEC imposed $281 million in monetary penalties for settlements reached in 2023.

ADM Accounting Probe Centers on Dubious Footnote Investors Watch

A probe into Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.’s accounting is aggravating investors’ long-time concerns that large, complex companies are more prone to the risk of undetected manipulation of crucial financial figures.

The Chicago-based agricultural giant has released few details since it said Sunday that it had suspended its chief financial officer and cut its earnings forecast, sending its stock tumbling 24%. A Securities and Exchange Commission request for information sparked the company’s inquiry into how it reported revenue for its nutrition business, one of three major operating divisions, including any transactions among those units that could have impacted the totals.

Corporate managers have wide latitude under US accounting rules on how to divvy up their results and set what business units charge each other for services or supplies. But shifting revenues from one operating segment to another could mislead investors, and any intentional mingling could cast doubt on the reliability of the company’s other financial reporting.