SEC Charges Recidivist Broker-Dealer in Employee’s Long-Running Pump-and-Dump Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against Wedbush Securities Inc. for failing to supervise employee Timary Delorme after the broker-dealer ignored numerous red flags indicating that Delorme was involved in a long-running pump-and-dump scheme targeting retail investors. Delorme agreed to settle fraud charges stemming from the same scheme. This is the second SEC action against Wedbush this year and the third since 2014. The SEC’s investigation found that Delorme – a registered representative of Wedbush – received undisclosed benefits for investing her customers in microcap stocks that were the subject of a “pump-and-dump” scheme orchestrated by Izak Zirk Engelbrecht, who was previously charged by the Commission and criminal authorities in separate actions.