Jury finds Life Partners Holdings, Pardo liable for defrauding shareholders
Last edited Tue Feb 4, 2014, 03:45 PM - Edit history (1)
A federal jury in Austin has found Waco-based Life Partners Holdings and its founder, Brian Pardo, liable for defrauding shareholders.
After beginning its deliberations on Friday, the jury of eight reportedly reached a verdict late Monday evening.
Andrew Ceresney, director of the Security and Exchange Commissions division of enforcement, released a statement Tuesday morning that said: Were very pleased the jury found Life Partners and its executives liable for knowingly or recklessly defrauding shareholders, filing false SEC filings, and keeping inaccurate books and records.
He added, Were also pleased the jury found Pardo, Life Partners CEO, responsible for falsely certifying that the companys public filings were accurate when they were not.
More at
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/jury-finds-life-partners-holdings-pardo-liable-for-defrauding-shareholders/article_d9dd836b-97f4-5ea5-bf37-a81c9be34a23.html.
Cross-posted in the Texas Group.
Related thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/113734826
ETA: The first link was removed. The corrected link is at
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/update-jury-returns-mixed-verdict-against-life-partners-holdings-pardo/article_d9dd836b-97f4-5ea5-bf37-a81c9be34a23.html .
Updated article:
A federal jury in Austin reached a mixed verdict in a civil case involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and Waco-based Life Partners Holdings, which is involved in brokering the sale of life insurance policies in investors.
The jury found that Life Partners did not commit fraud and its officers did not engage in insider trading as the SEC alleged, according to the verdict form. But it did rule that Life Partners Holdings, founder Brian D. Pardo and general counsel Scott Peden did violate certain provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These primarily involved alleged misstatements made in books and records.
Both sides were claiming victory following the verdict.
Andrew Ceresney, director of the Security and Exchange Commissions division of enforcement, released a statement Tuesday morning that said: Were very pleased the jury found Life Partners and its executives liable for knowingly or recklessly defrauding shareholders, filing false SEC filings, and keeping inaccurate books and records.