Deferred Prosecution Agreement

The Carrot and the Stick: The SEC’s First Deferred Prosecution Agreement with an Individual in an FCPA Case

In a move that highlights both the increased focus on holding individuals accountable and the  credit that can be earned through cooperation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced last week that, for the first time, it entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) with an individual allegedly involved in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) case.  On February 16, 2016, the SEC announced a DPA with Yu Kai Yuan, a former employee of software company PTC Inc.’s Chinese subsidiaries.  The SEC agreed to defer civil FCPA charges against Yu for three years in recognition of his cooperation during the SEC’s investigation.  PTC also reached a settlement with the SEC, in which the company agreed to disgorge $11.8 million.  Prior to the Yu DPA, the SEC had entered into one DPA with an individual in November 2013, in a matter involving a hedge fund manager allegedly stealing investor assets.  However, never before this time was a DPA with the SEC related to an FCPA case.

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Quid Pro Quo, yes or no? SEC Signs First Individual Deferred Prosecution Agreement

The SEC this year has demonstrated its willingness to incentivize whistleblowers  and companies to share information about misconduct and assist with the SEC’s investigations.  To that end, the SEC issued its first Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with an individual on November 12, 2013.  A DPA is an agreement whereby the SEC refrains from prosecuting cooperators for their own violations if they comply with certain undertakings.

This first DPA is with Scott Herckis, a former Fund Administrator for Connecticut-based hedge fund Happelwhite Fund LP.  In September 2012 Herckis resigned and contacted government officials regarding the misappropriation by the fund’s founder and manager, Berton Hochfeld, of $1.5 million in hedge fund proceeds.  Herckis further reported that Hochfeld had overstated the fund’s performance to investors.  Herckis’s cooperation with the SEC, including producing voluminous documents and helping the SEC staff understand how Hochfeld was able to perpetrate the fraud, led the SEC to file an emergency action and freeze $6 million of Hochfeld’s and the fund’s  assets.  Those frozen assets will be distributed to the fund’s investors. READ MORE