2018-09-12 sec-litreleases litigation_release 65 KB 1,898 chars

SEC v. Adam C. Wasserman, No. LR-24265, Southern District of Florida (Sept. 12, 2018) — Press Release

raw: Adam C. Wasserman

Adam C. Wasserman, No. LR-24265 (Sept. 12, 2018)

Caption
SEC v. Adam C. Wasserman
summary

Adam C. Wasserman, former CFO of a China-based public company, improperly commingled corporate and personal funds, transferring over $400,000, and agreed to settle SEC charges with a $20,000 penalty and five-year bar from serving as an officer or director.

paragraph

Adam C. Wasserman, former CFO of a China-based public company, was charged by the SEC with violating internal accounting controls by commingling corporate and personal funds. Over a 20-month period, Wasserman transferred over $400,000 in corporate funds from China to the US to pay company expenses, circumventing foreign currency controls. Wasserman agreed to settle the charges, paying a $20,000 civil penalty, and is barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years.

narrative

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Adam C. Wasserman, the former CFO of a China-based public company, with violating internal accounting controls by commingling corporate and personal funds. Over a 20-month period, Wasserman transferred over $400,000 in corporate funds from China to the US to pay company expenses, circumventing foreign currency controls. This practice, which exposed company assets to misuse, was allegedly repeated with at least two other China-based public companies. The SEC alleged that Wasserman knowingly failed to implement a system of internal accounting controls in violation of Section 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Wasserman agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations, consenting to a permanent injunction, a $20,000 civil penalty, and a five-year bar from serving as an officer or director of a public company. The settlement is subject to court approval. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Gregory C. Padgett and Cecilia B. Connor, with supervision by Amy L. Friedman.

Enriched metadata

Scheme
accounting-fraud (95%)
Court
Southern District of Florida
Outcome
settled
Civil penalty
$20,000
Entity
Adam C. Wasserman
Classified accounting-fraud(confidence 95%). EDGAR detection: forms 10-K/10-Q/8-K/NT 10-K· recall 80% / precision 48%. detection rule →
Parties
Securities and Exchange CommissionAdam C. Wasserman
Keywords
wassermanadam wassermansecurities exchangefundsadamexchangesec'saccounting controlsexchange commissionpublic companycommingling corporatepersonal fundscorporate fundssec's allegesaccounting

Exhibits & Attached Documents (1)

Extracted insights

Dollar amounts 2
  • $400K $400,000 $100K–$1M
  • $20K $20,000 $10K–$100K
Entities 1
  • person adam c. wasserman
Triples 3
  • SEC charged Adam C. Wasserman
  • Adam C. Wasserman charged with improperly commingling corporate and personal funds to transfer funds to the U.S. while avoiding foreign currency controls
  • SEC charged Adam C. Wasserman
PDF (from attached: complaint)
Text layers
Extracted body text (1,898c)
SEC Charges Outsourced CFO with Accounting Controls Deficiencies Litigation Release No. 24265 / September 12, 2018 Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 3971 / September 12, 2018 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Adam C. Wasserman, No. 18-cv-23729 (S.D. Fla. filed Sept. 12, 2018) The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the U.S.-based former CFO of a public company based in China with improperly commingling corporate and personal funds as part of a practice to transfer funds to the U.S. while avoiding foreign currency controls. According to the SEC's complaint, over a 20-month period, Adam C. Wasserman used a personal account to transfer over $400,000 in corporate funds from China to the U.S. to pay the Chinese company's U.S. expenses. The SEC's complaint also alleges that Wasserman had previously engaged in the same practice with at least two other China-based public companies. The SEC's complaint alleges that by repeatedly commingling corporate funds with his own personal funds Wasserman put the company's assets at risk for misuse and loss and, through his conduct, Wasserman knowingly failed to implement a system of internal accounting controls in violation of Section 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Wasserman agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint and consented to the entry of a final judgment that permanently enjoins him from future violations of Section 13(b)(5) of the Exchange Act, orders him to pay a civil penalty of $20,000, and bars him from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years. The settlement is subject to court approval. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Gregory C. Padgett and Cecilia B. Connor and supervised by Amy L. Friedman, with assistance from Leigh Barrett, Jan M. Folena, James E. Smith, and Janet S. Yang. SEC Complaint
OCR text (1,898c · html-text · 99% conf)
SEC Charges Outsourced CFO with Accounting Controls Deficiencies Litigation Release No. 24265 / September 12, 2018 Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 3971 / September 12, 2018 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Adam C. Wasserman, No. 18-cv-23729 (S.D. Fla. filed Sept. 12, 2018) The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the U.S.-based former CFO of a public company based in China with improperly commingling corporate and personal funds as part of a practice to transfer funds to the U.S. while avoiding foreign currency controls. According to the SEC's complaint, over a 20-month period, Adam C. Wasserman used a personal account to transfer over $400,000 in corporate funds from China to the U.S. to pay the Chinese company's U.S. expenses. The SEC's complaint also alleges that Wasserman had previously engaged in the same practice with at least two other China-based public companies. The SEC's complaint alleges that by repeatedly commingling corporate funds with his own personal funds Wasserman put the company's assets at risk for misuse and loss and, through his conduct, Wasserman knowingly failed to implement a system of internal accounting controls in violation of Section 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Wasserman agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint and consented to the entry of a final judgment that permanently enjoins him from future violations of Section 13(b)(5) of the Exchange Act, orders him to pay a civil penalty of $20,000, and bars him from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years. The settlement is subject to court approval. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Gregory C. Padgett and Cecilia B. Connor and supervised by Amy L. Friedman, with assistance from Leigh Barrett, Jan M. Folena, James E. Smith, and Janet S. Yang. SEC Complaint