The SEC filed charges against Keith A. Wakefield, a former managing director and head of fixed-income trading at IFS Securities, Inc., an Atlanta-based broker-dealer, causing millions of dollars of losses through unauthorized trading in fixed income securities, and with fraudulently obtaining approximately $820,000 in fictitious commission income.
According to the SEC’s complaint, the trader has settled the case, which alleged that from June through August 2019, Wakefield engaged in unauthorized speculative trading in U.S. Treasury securities, on behalf of IFS and incurred millions of dollars in losses for the firm. The complaint further alleges that Wakefield engaged in a variety of fraudulent practices to create the appearance of fictitious trading profits and disguise his unauthorized trading losses, including falsifying IFS’s books and records. As alleged, from January 2017 through August 2019, Wakefield also fraudulently obtained approximately $820,000 in commission income from IFS based on fictitious commission payments from customers that he fabricated and recorded on IFS’s books and records. According to the complaint, Wakefield’s fraud came to an end in August 2019 when IFS was unable to honor millions of dollars in unauthorized fixed income securities trades executed by Wakefield with more than one dozen counter-parties. As a result, IFS was forced to close its business, withdraw its registration as a broker-dealer, and file for bankruptcy.
The SEC’s complaint charges Wakefield with violations of the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and with aiding and abetting IFS’s failure to maintain accurate books and records and operate with sufficient net capital. Wakefield has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by consenting to a permanent injunction and to pay disgorgement plus prejudgment interest and a civil penalty in amounts to be determined by the court at a later date. The settlement is subject to court approval.
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois today announced criminal charges against Wakefield for related misconduct.
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Mark Astarita is a nationally recognized securities attorney, who represents investors, financial professionals and firms in securities litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters, including SEC and FINRA investigations and enforcement proceedings.
He is a partner in the national securities law firm Sallah Astarita & Cox, LLC, and the founder of The Securities Law Home Page - SECLaw.com, which was one of the first legal topic sites on the Internet. It went online in 1995 and is updated daily with news, commentary and securities law related links.