Hochfeld

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