SEC Charges Texas Brothers With Alleged $12 Million Real Estate Offering Fraud.

SEC Charges Brothers in North Texas in Connection with Alleged Real Estate Offering Fraud

On February 18, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Texas residents and brothers Saumil Thakkar and Poorvesh Thakkar, and two companies they control, for allegedly conducting a real estate offering fraud.

The SEC’s complaint alleges that S. Thakkar and P. Thakkar fraudulently raised more than $12 million for a real estate investment-focused private fund. The Thakkars controlled both the fund’s manager, PASMAA GP Investment Fund Manager, LLC, and the fund’s sponsor, Perfect Group Holdings, LLC. As alleged in the complaint, the defendants made several misrepresentations in the fund’s written offering materials, emails sent to prospective investors, and in verbal investment solicitations. The alleged misrepresentations concerned key aspects of the Fund’s real estate investments, including, among other things, understated project costs, a large asset claimed to be under contract, and property under development that was purportedly pre-leased. The complaint further alleges the defendants misrepresented how much money the Thakkar family invested in the fund and failed to disclose related-party agreements, rendering statements in the fund’s private placement memorandum misleading.

Musk’s Twitter Trial Gets Jurors Who Can Set Aside Feelings

Nine jurors, claiming they can be fair and impartial to Elon Musk and his controversial purchase of Twitter in 2022, were seated in San Francisco federal court Thursday, whittled down from a pool of 93.

Judge Charles R Breyer spent over five hours on jury selection Thursday in the investor class action trial set to begin with opening statements March 2.

The trial involves claims from Twitter investors who say Musk violated securities law by publicly waffling over his decision to purchase the company and driving down its stock price. It’s expected to last about three weeks and may include live testimony from Musk, who later renamed the company X Corp., as well as former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.

Breyer, a veteran trial judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California, told attorneys for Musk and the investors that it would be almost impossible to impanel a jury that had no views at all about Musk.

“He’s like the president of the United States, I could search the entire country,” Breyer said. “As a public figure he will excite strong views, and for him in particular, people have strong views.”

Fed’s Kashkari says crypto is ‘utterly useless’

Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, offered a blunt take on digital assets, arguing that cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and stablecoins, have yet to prove real utility.

Speaking at the 2026 Midwest Economic Outlook Summit in Fargo, North Dakota on Thursday, he contrasted the everyday utility of artificial intelligence (AI) tools with cryptocurrencies.

“Crypto has been around for more than a decade, and it’s utterly useless,” he said, while AI “has real long term potential for the U.S. economy.”

After asking the audience who had used AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini in the past week, Kashkari posed a second question: “raise your hand if you’ve bought or sold something with bitcoin.”

When the discussion turned to payments and stablecoins, Kashkari said he’s unconvinced the technology improves on existing financial rails. “I hear these words and I like, it’s just, it’s like a buzzword salad,” he said. “What can I do with the stablecoin that I can’t do with Venmo today?”

Pardoned Binance Founder Hobnobs With Trump Sons and Administration Officials at Mar-a-Lago Crypto Fest

In an ornate ballroom in Palm Beach, Fla., where a golden eagle loomed over a conference stage, recently pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao made a triumphant return to the U.S.—his first visit since his release from a California federal prison in 2024.

Zhao, whose crypto exchange has been barred from operating in the U.S. since 2023 for violating anti-money-laundering rules, posted a picture of himself Wednesday on X listening to a top federal crypto regulator speak.

“Learned a lot,” he wrote.

Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to a related charge, returned to the U.S. for what World Liberty Financial—the Trump-backed cryptocurrency company—billed as a “carefully curated” 500-person gathering to discuss the future of finance and technology. The venue: President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, the so-called Winter White House, where Secret Service agents milled around the property. […]

“CZ attended a conference with hundreds of other industry leaders—there is no story here,” said Zhao’s lawyer, Teresa Goody Guillén. “He received a full presidential pardon after years of politically driven prosecution that impacted many across the industry. Any suggestion otherwise is simply incorrect.”

The Supreme Court (Again) Takes Up SEC Disgorgement Powers

Key Points

—On April 20, 2026, the Supreme Court will hear argument on an appeal from the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Sripetch v. SEC.1 The case concerns the ability of the SEC, and potentially other agencies, to obtain disgorgement of ill-gotten gains in enforcement proceedings.
—The Court will likely resolve a circuit split that has emerged as to whether proof of pecuniary harm to victims is needed for the SEC to obtain disgorgement. As it stands today, the SEC needs to submit such proof in a litigated action in the Second Circuit, but in the First and Ninth Circuits, no such proof is required.
—Any changes to the SEC’s ability to seek disgorgement could have far-reaching consequences. Disgorgement is often the largest component of financial remedies sought by the SEC. The Court’s decision could curtail or even eliminate the availability of the remedy for certain kinds of violations, such as insider trading or reporting violations.
—The SEC defended the decision below in Sripetch and has previously opposed any limitations on its disgorgement powers. However, a Supreme Court decision that requires the SEC to prove pecuniary harm to victims would align with the investor harm-focused enforcement principles espoused by SEC Chairman Atkins.

Accenture combats AI refuseniks by linking promotions to log-ins

Accenture has begun monitoring staff use of its AI tools as part of how it decides top-level promotions, as consultancies push reluctant employees to adopt the technology.

The Dublin-headquartered firm told associate directors and senior managers that promotion to leadership positions would require “regular adoption” of AI, according to people familiar with the matter and an internal email seen by the FT.
This month Accenture started to collect data on individual weekly log-ins to its AI tools for some senior employees.

“Use of our key tools will be a visible input to talent discussions” during this summer’s leadership-level promotion decisions, the email said. The New York-listed group says it has more than 550,000 people trained in generative AI.

Money Awards to SEC Over Pump-and-Dump Scheme Upheld on Appeal

Five disgorgement awards to the SEC totaling nearly $43 million in a penny-stock market manipulation case were proper, the First Circuit ruled Thursday.
The scheme’s internal records support each individual defendant’s share of responsibility, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said. The case will go back to the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts to clarify an injunction against one defendant.

Zhiying Yvonne Gasarch and four other defendants in the civil enforcement case challenged an order of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts that they disgorge ill-gotten gains to the Securities and Exchange Commission ….