SEC Charges Registered Investment Adviser and Former Chief Operating Officer With Defrauding Client

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Talimco LLC, a registered investment adviser, and Grant Gardner Rogers, the former chief operating officer of the firm, with manipulating the auction of a commercial real estate asset on behalf of one client for the benefit of another. According to the SEC’s order, in or about April 2015 while selling a commercial real estate asset on behalf of a collateralized debt obligation client, Talimco and Rogers were aiming to acquire the asset for another client, a private fund. Talimco and Rogers owed its selling client a fiduciary duty, which included an obligation to take steps to use its best efforts to maximize the price obtained for the asset by identifying willing bidders.