The Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) recently announced the issuance of an Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings and Notice of Hearing Pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) against Adam Harrington, aka Adam Rukdeschel and Adam Harrington Ruckdeschel.

The Division of Enforcement (Division) alleges in the Order that on July 26, 2011 Harrington was convicted of securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy (to commit those three offenses), in violation of 15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b) and 78ff; 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5; and 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1342, and 1343, before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, in United States v. Ross Mandell, et al., 09-cr-662 (S.D.N.Y.).

According to the announcement, Harrington, a resident of Miami, Florida, was a registered representative at Sky Capital LLC (now known as Granta Capital LLC) (Sky Capital), a New York-based broker-dealer.  The counts of the criminal indictment under which Harrington was found guilty alleged, inter alia, that from in or about 1999 through in or about 2005, Harrington and others carried out a fraudulent scheme by soliciting millions of dollars from investors under false pretenses, manipulating the market for certain affiliated companies’ stocks, failing to use investors’ funds as promised, and misappropriating and converting investors’ funds without their knowledge.

The indictment further alleged that Harrington and others used material misrepresentations and omissions to cause individuals to invest in a series of purported investment opportunities, including private placements.  The indictment also alleged that Harrington and others raised a total of approximately $140 million from investors through their fraudulent scheme.

On May 7, 2012, Harrington was apparently sentenced to a 60-month prison term, followed by three years of supervised release, and a money judgment of $20,000,000.

The foregoing information, which is publicly available on the SEC’s website, is being provided by The White Law Group.  The White Law Group is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, and investor protection law firm with offices in Boca Raton, Florida and Chicago, Illinois.

For more information on The White Law Group, visit http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.