經濟廣角:美國再爆龐氏騙局 股票經紀人被控
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.
美國證券交易委員會(SEC)週一指控已破產公司Fast Frank Inc.的所有人之一布倫斯坦(Frank Bluestein)，他曾勸說800餘名投資者對他們的住房進行再融資，並將籌得的資金投入無價值證券，這些投資者以老年人爲主。
在一起涉案金額2.5億美元的龐氏騙局中充當了最主要銷售人。SEC已於2007年制止了這一龐氏騙局，此前它以欺詐罪對Edward May and E-M Management Company LLC提起民事指控。
SEC並未指控現年59歲的布倫斯坦有意勸說上述年長者投資一宗欺詐交易。但SEC的訴狀稱，布倫斯坦在告訴這些投資者E-M證券是低風險投資品之前沒有進行盡職調查，也沒有做什麼工作來調查E-M證券的合法性，儘管在SEC看來這些證券破綻百出。
SEC還指控說，布倫斯坦沒有披露他接受了May and E-M的240萬美元佣金，只披露了他此前從Fast Frank獲得的140萬美元薪酬。
布倫斯坦的代理律師福斯特(David Foster)說，布倫斯坦一直在努力協助SEC進行調查，而且他自己在這起欺詐案中也深受其害，此前他在這起龐氏騙局中投入了自己近100萬美元資金。有100多名投資者尋求通過美國金融業監管局(Financial Industry Regulatory Authority)的仲裁解決與布倫斯坦的糾紛，布倫斯坦還面臨着一起集體訴訟。
