(March 17 – 15:45 ET) – A Colorado grand jury has handed down criminal indictments for securities fraud against a stockbroker and his branch manager — in a case that demonstrates in part why Canada is considered soft on white collar crime.
William Lee Jeffers, a Colorado Springs-based broker with Denver’s D.E.
Frey and Co., was charged with three felonies alleging that he churned the accounts of several elderly clients and used undisclosed margin trading to finance these activities. The branch manager, Roger Rawlings, was also charged on the basis that he failed to supervise Jeffers despite knowing that Jeffers’ registration was subject to close daily supervision. Bail of US$25,000 and US$10,000 was set for Jeffers and Rawlings respectively.
In Canada, criminal charges for securities fraud is not unheard of, although offences are typically more egregious than simple account churning. Holding managers responsible for nothing more than a failure to supervise is unheard of north of the 49th.
-IE Staff