Texas mortgage companies, founder must pay $93 million in fraud case –jury

A federal jury has ordered two Texas-based home mortgage entities and their chief executive to pay nearly $93 million for defrauding the U.S. government into insuring thousands of risky loans, authorities said on Wednesday.

Americus Mortgage Corp, AllQuest Home Mortgage Corp, and their founder, Jim Hodge, were found liable on Tuesday by a Houston federal jury for violating the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act.

The jury awarded nearly $93 million in damages, including $7.37 million against Hodge, a sum that is subject to mandatory tripling. Further penalties are expected, which U.S. District Judge George Hanks will set at a later date. read more »

Jury orders Wyndham Worldwide to pay $20m to Whistleblower

Four years ago Patricia Williams was fired for exposing fraudulent sales of timeshares to the elderly

"I gotta tell you I'm proud of it now. I'm proud to be a whistleblower," said Patricia.

She just won a wrongful termination lawsuit against the timeshare company, Wyndham Vacation Ownership -- and it is huge. A San Francisco jury ordered Wyndham to pay her $20 million in damages. read more »

CFTC Obtains $21.8 Million Default Judgment against Former CBOE Member Alvin Guy Wilkinson and his Connecticut-based Firms for Misappropriation of Customer Funds and Fraudulent Solicitation in Ponzi Scheme

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that Judge Virginia Kendall of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered an Order of default judgment and permanent injunction against Defendants Alvin Guy Wilkinson of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and his entities, Chicago Index Partners, L.P. (CIP) and Wilkinson Financial Opportunity Fund, L.P. (WFOF), both located in Sharon, Connecticut, in connection with a commodity pool fraud that victimized 30 investors. The Order finds that Wilkinson misappropriated pool funds, fraudulently solicited pool participants, issued false statements to customers and provided false financial information to the National Futures Association (NFA). The Order also finds that Defendants were not registered with the CFTC, as required. read more »

MTS Systems Delays Fourth-Quarter Report on Potential Violations in China

Possible corporate violations by company leadership in China.

MTS Systems Corp. said it is investigating possible corporate violations by its leadership in China, and will delay releasing its full quarterly and annual reports.

The test-sensor company’s stock dropped 8.1% to $50.10 in early trading Tuesday, pushing the year’s slide to more than 20%.

“We are deeply disappointed to report that we recently discovered that certain individuals in our leadership in China appear to have violated MTS’s code of conduct, including association with an independent business that may compete with MTS in certain markets,” said Chief Executive Jeffrey Graves.

China was among the Asia-Pacific regions MTS was already investigating for potential Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations. read more »

As a Distracted Brazil Mourns, Lawmakers Gut a Corruption Bill

Brazil was still mourning the victims of one of its most agonizing sports tragedies, the crash of a plane carrying the Chapecoense soccer team. But the country’s scandal-plagued Congress had its own priorities: gutting what was supposed to be a pioneering anticorruption bill.

Shortly after President Michel Temer declared three days of official mourning for the victims of the crash, Brazilian legislators held a marathon session that went into early Wednesday. The result: legislation that could significantly erode the authority of prosecutors and judges who are investigating politicians in corruption cases.

The vote reflects how Brazil’s political class is growing increasingly fearful as huge graft inquiries advance, including the investigation into a sweeping bribery scheme at the national oil company, Petrobras. Just last week, legislators tried to rewrite the same bill to grant amnesty to themselves and others ensnared in corruption cases involving political campaigns, provoking a widespread outcry. read more »

SEC Charges Asset Management Fund and Manager

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against Miami Beach-based asset management company Onix Capital LLC and owner Alberto Chang-Rajii, a Chilean national who fled the U.S. earlier this year.

The SEC alleges that Chang and Onix Capital defrauded investors in promissory notes that “guaranteed” annual returns of 12 percent to 19 percent and bilked others who were told their funds would be invested in promising start-ups.  Chang and Onix Capital also are alleged to have falsely depicted Chang as an award-winning multi-millionaire “angel” investor with an M.B.A. from Stanford University. read more »