Broker Guilty of Bribing Public Plan Official
A broker charged with bribing a public plan official to secure brokerage business pled guilty to criminal securities fraud charges and was barred from the industry. The SEC charges that the broker spent nearly $20,000 on hotels, meals and concert tickets and then concealed the name of the public plan official on expense reports. The SEC argues that the bribes resulted in over $1 Billion in fixed income trading for her firm and significant commissions paid to the broker. The SEC also asserts that she knew the public plan official violated his disclosure obligations.
OUR TAKE: The payor of illegal solicitation payments will incur as much legal wrath as the recipient. It is unlikely that the commissions received will compensate her for the fines, criminal penalties and industry bar.