Enforcement

The Internal Revenue Service appears is stepping up its audit of $80 million of Arborwood Community Development District's 2006 bonds and appears to be focusing in part on the Florida CDD's board and land that may have been purchased at too high of a price.

J. P. Turner & Co. and Wedbush Securities, Inc. were hit with a total of $305,000 in fines by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for violating municipal bond rules in connection with excessive markups, disclosure failures, and/or falsifying documents.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged State Street Bank and Trust Co., the former head of its public funds group, and a lawyer-lobbyist with securities fraud for making illicit payments and campaign contributions to obtain Ohio pension fund business worth millions.

Christopher Brogdon, facing Securities and Exchange Commission charges for defrauding investors in senior living facility financings, has been ordered by a federal court in New Jersey to create a plan to pay those investors.

Municipal market participants will once again see an active year for enforcement in 2016 as the Securities and Exchange Commission's self-reporting initiative largely wraps up and the enforcement division mixes a continued focus on pricing and market structure actions with potential new areas for enforcement like municipal advisors and bank loans.

An Alabama federal judge entered judgments approving settlements in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s cases against former JPMorgan bankers Douglas MacFaddin and Charles LeCroy, who were accused of wrongdoing in the Jefferson County, Ala. sewer financings.

The FBI arrested 10 Puerto Rico officials and businessmen in a corruption probe, dealing a blow to the government as it looks to resolve its financial crisis.

Two former JPMorgan bankers have agreed not to violate securities laws and to repay money they made while working on transactions involving Jefferson County, Ala., Securities and Exchange Commission documents said Tuesday.

Three muni regulators and enforcement agencies are opening registration for a free compliance outreach program for municipal advisors that they plan to hold in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Feb 3, 2016.

Christopher Brogdon, the retirement home financier who is facing Securities and Exchange Commission charges, has denied being liable for a particularly problematic deal in new filings with a federal court in Georgia.

Municipal market participants want to know why it has taken securities regulators so long to stop Christopher Brogdon from swindling investors by misusing for personal gain the proceeds of bonds and private placements that were supposed to finance the purchase and renovation of senior living facilities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency freeze of the assets of an Atlanta-based businessman and filed a lawsuit charging him and his associates with fraud for misusing investor proceeds that were intended to be used to purchase and renovate senior living facilities.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered R.M. Duncan Securities, its president and chief executive officer, and a broker to pay a combined $166,000 for selling defaulted municipal securities from their own accounts to seniors at unreasonably high prices and for not maintaining adequate supervisory procedures.

The second wave of underwriter settlements was similar to the first, but with some new details on issuers failures to comply with prior continuing disclosure undertakings.

Seven former Internal Revenue Service commissioners are decrying ongoing House and Senate appropriations cuts for the IRS, warning they are hurting tax enforcement as well as taxpayer assistance, among other things.

Issuers should monitor bond activity for compliance violations, an IRS tax law specialist said at a Bond Buyer conference in Providence, R.I.

Rating agencies are continuing to treat municipal issuers unfairly even though federal law required that practice to stop, former California Treasurer Bill Lockyer said.

South Carolina’s Tuomey Healthcare System has negotiated a reduced settlement of $72.4 million with the Justice Department for filing 21,000 false Medicare claims.

Landolt Securities, Inc. has been ordered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to pay $20,000 for violating municipal trade reporting, books and records, and supervisory rules.

Christopher Brogdon, who was at the center of more than a dozen problematic healthcare municipal bond deals for which at least $2 million was unaccounted for, will resign from the board of healthcare firm AdCare.