The U.S. Securities and Exchange commission on Tuesday sanctioned a former portfolio manager at a Boulder-based investment adviser for forging documents and misleading the firm’s chief compliance officer to conceal his failure to report personal trades.
An SEC investigation found that Carl Johns of Louisville, failed to pre-clear or report several hundred securities trades in his personal accounts as required under the federal securities laws and the code of ethics as a Boulder Investment Advisers (BIA).
According to the SEC, Johns concealed the trades in quarterly and annual trading reports that he submitted to BIA by altering brokerage statements and other documents that he attached to the reports.
The SEC alleged that Johns later tried to conceal his misconduct by creating false documents that purported to be pre-trade approvals and misled the firm’s chief compliance officer in her investigation into his improper trading.
To settle the SEC’s charges, Johns agreed to pay more than $350,000 and be barred from the securities industry for at least five years.
Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Johns consented to the five year bar and a cease-and-desist order.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com or
