The SEC alleges that a former securities trader acted in concert with a Mexican investment adviser, InvesTrust, and unnecessarily inserted a separate broker-dealer as a middleman into securities transactions in order to generate millions of dollars in additional fees. The former trader, who resided in Coronado, Calif., at the time and currently lives in Mexico, agreed to pay $1 million to settle the SEC’s charges. The SEC also charged his former firm Investment Placement Group (IPG) and its CEO with failing to properly supervise. IPG agreed to pay more than $4 million to settle the charges.
In an interpositioning scheme, an extra broker-dealer is illegally added as a principal on trades even though no real services are being provided. The SEC alleges that the former trader colluded with InvesTrust and needlessly inserted a broker-dealer based in Mexico into securities transactions between IPG and InvesTrust’s pension fund clients, causing the pension funds to pay approximately $65 million more than they would have without the middleman.
SEC Charges Securities Trader with Cross-Border Fraudulent Interpositioning Scheme
