经济广角:美国再爆庞氏骗局 股票经纪人被控
Michigan Broker Charged In Ponzi Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday accused a part owner of a now-defunct firm known as Fast Frank Inc. of persuading more than 800 investors -- many of them elderly -- to refinance their homes and invest millions of dollars in worthless securities.
The agency filed a civil lawsuit in Michigan federal court alleging that stockbroker Frank Bluestein acted as the single largest salesperson in a $250 million Ponzi scheme that the SEC shut down in 2007 after it filed civil charges accusing Edward May and E-M Management Company LLC of fraud.
The SEC doesn't allege that the 59-year-old Mr. Bluestein knowingly solicited older investors to invest in a fraud. But the agency's complaint says he failed to conduct due diligence before telling seniors that E-M securities were low-risk investments, and did little to investigate the legitimacy of E-M offerings despite being confronted with what the SEC says were numerous red flags.
The agency also alleges that Mr. Bluestein failed to disclose that he received $2.4 million of commissions from May and E-M on top of the $1.4 million in disclosed compensation he got from Fast Frank.
David Foster, an attorney representing Mr. Bluestein, said his client has been trying to help the SEC with its investigation and was personally devastated by the alleged fraud after investing nearly $1 million of his own money. He faces more than 100 pending investor arbitrations through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as well as a class-action lawsuit.
美国证券交易委员会(SEC)周一指控已破产公司Fast Frank Inc.的所有人之一布伦斯坦(Frank Bluestein)，他曾劝说800余名投资者对他们的住房进行再融资，并将筹得的资金投入无价值证券，这些投资者以老年人为主。
在一起涉案金额2.5亿美元的庞氏骗局中充当了最主要销售人。SEC已于2007年制止了这一庞氏骗局，此前它以欺诈罪对Edward May and E-M Management Company LLC提起民事指控。
SEC并未指控现年59岁的布伦斯坦有意劝说上述年长者投资一宗欺诈交易。但SEC的诉状称，布伦斯坦在告诉这些投资者E-M证券是低风险投资品之前没有进行尽职调查，也没有做什么工作来调查E-M证券的合法性，尽管在SEC看来这些证券破绽百出。
SEC还指控说，布伦斯坦没有披露他接受了May and E-M的240万美元佣金，只披露了他此前从Fast Frank获得的140万美元薪酬。
布伦斯坦的代理律师福斯特(David Foster)说，布伦斯坦一直在努力协助SEC进行调查，而且他自己在这起欺诈案中也深受其害，此前他在这起庞氏骗局中投入了自己近100万美元资金。有100多名投资者寻求通过美国金融业监管局(Financial Industry Regulatory Authority)的仲裁解决与布伦斯坦的纠纷，布伦斯坦还面临着一起集体诉讼。
