RFK Jr. is Happy to Take Your Campaign Donation in Bitcoin

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Individual Who Defrauded New Jersey Investors

On May 17, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final consent judgment against Sam A. Antar, who the SEC previously charged with defrauding investors, many of whom were his friends and acquaintances in a Syrian Jewish community in New Jersey.

The SEC’s s complaint, alleged that Antar, of New York, New York, engaged in a fraudulent scheme that deceived numerous investors out of more than $550,000 while claiming he would invest in shares of companies that were not yet public, and then sell those shares to already-identified buyers for a premium in a short period of time. In reality, according to the complaint, Antar never used investor funds to purchase shares of emerging companies, or to make any other investment. Instead, Antar spent investor funds gambling, making gifts to family members, paying for his daughter’s wedding, and making Ponzi-like payments to some early investors.

Court Unseals Opinion in Carson Block SEC Whistleblower Case

A federal appeals court has granted Bloomberg Industry Group’s motion to unseal its opinion in an SEC whistleblower dispute involving activist investor Carson Block and one of his former researchers.

Friday’s order from the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reverses the court’s highly unusual decision to place its March 23 opinion “under permanent seal.” The court denied an attempt by Kevin Barnes, filing under the alias Jamie Doe, to gain a share of a $14 million Securities and Exchange Commission award granted to Block, but had kept its legal reasoning secret. Friday’s order was issued without comment.

Energy Services Company Hit with SPAC-Related Securities Suit

One of the significant contributing factors to the total number of securities class action lawsuit filings in 2022 was the number of SPAC-related securities suits filed during the year. However, while there were a significant number of SPAC-related suits filed in 2022, the number of SPAC-related suit filings declined as the year progressed, to the point that it was not clear whether the phenomenon would continue into 2023. As it has turned out, the plaintiffs’ lawyers have continued to file SPAC-related suits this year. In the latest example, on May 12, 2023, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities suit against energy storage services provider Stem, Inc., which merged with a SPAC in April 2021. This latest filing shows that the SPAC-related suits continue to be filed and that the suits continue to be a factor in the total overall number of securities suit filings.

Breaking: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to accept campaign donations in Bitcoin

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be the first presidential candidate in United States history to accept campaign donations in Bitcoin, he announced during his first appearance as a presidential candidate at the Bitcoin 2023 conference. He praised the cryptocurrency as a “symbol of democracy and freedom” during the event.

FX Boss Convicted of Fraud Over Fake London Investment Firm

The boss of a London FX firm was found guilty of seven counts of fraud for his role in a Ponzi-style scheme that claimed to be a legitimate investment company.

Anthony Constantinou, who ran a number of corporate entities that made up the Capital World Markets brand, was accused of fraudulent trading and money laundering between 2013 and 2015. Prosecutors said CWM lured small-time investors in with the promise of “remarkable returns.”