FINRA LAWYER BLOG

Last week, federal prosecutors charged Delaney Equity Group with participating in a fraudulent scheme involving the sale of bogus shell company shares. The Florida-based broker-dealer allegedly conspired to sell shares of fraudulent microcap companies to investors at a profit. The Department of Justice has accused the defendant of “unlawfully” selling “unregistered securities” between late 2009 and mid 2013.

According to prosecutors, Delaney Equity Group recruited individuals to pose as CEOs for shell companies which were used to fraudulently register securities with the SEC. In order to be able to market shares of the shell companies, Delaney and the straw CEOs allegedly submitted numerous fraudulent documents to government agencies. Among other falsehoods, the documents stated that the ‘CEOs’ owned a control block of restricted shares in their respective companies.

Delaney Equity Group could be fined up to $500,000 or double the proceeds from the misconduct. The case has been assigned to Miami District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga.

Hip-hop star Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z, has just received a subpoena to appear in court after he failed to testify in connection with the SEC’s probe into Iconix Brand Group’s accounting practices.

Iconix acquired intangible assets from Jay-Z’s clothing brand Rocawear in 2007, which boasted $700 million in annual sales at the time. The agreement was that Carter and Iconix would work on the joint development of new brand opportunities following the sale. But Iconix went on to announce two write-downs of Rocawear, one in 2016, of $169 million, and another one of $34 million earlier this year.

Iconix, which describes itself as, “the world’s premier brand management company and owner of a diversified portfolio of strong global consumer brands across fashion, sports, entertainment, and home,” markets retail brands such as Joe Boxer, Candie’s, Bongo, Pony, Umbro, and Material Girl.