Securities & Exchange Commission v. Penn

225 F. Supp. 3d 225, 2016 WL 7413518, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177409
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedDecember 21, 2016
Docket14-CV-0581 (VEC)
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 225 F. Supp. 3d 225 (Securities & Exchange Commission v. Penn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Securities & Exchange Commission v. Penn, 225 F. Supp. 3d 225, 2016 WL 7413518, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177409 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER

VALERIE CAPRONI, United States District Judge:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed this action against Defendant Lawrence E. Penn, III (“Penn”) alleging that Penn misappropriated approximately $9 million from a hedge fund he managed. The SEC alleges violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5; and Sections 204, 206(1), 206(2), and 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “40 [230]*230Act”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 80b-4, 80b-6(l), 80b-6(2), and 80b-7, and Rule 204-2 thereunder, 17 C.F.R. §§ 275.204-2. Penn pled guilty in New York state court to one count of grand larceny and one count of falsifying business records after being charged criminally in connection with the same scheme as underlies the SEC’s complaint. Penn has asserted various common law torts and a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as counterclaims against the SEC.

Before the Court is the SEC’s motion for judgment on the pleadings with respect to its claims under Section 10(b), Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act and Sections 204, 206(1), 206(2) and Rule 204-2 of the 40 Act. In the alternative, the SEC moves for partial summary judgment on each of these claims except those under Section 204 and Rule 204-2 of the 40 Act. The SEC also moves to dismiss Penn’s counterclaims.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court converts the SEC’s motion for judgment on the pleadings to a motion for summary judgment and GRANTS that motion in its entirety. The Court further DISMISSES Penn’s counterclaims without prejudice. The SEC’s remaining claim under Section 207 of the 40 Act is unresolved by this Opinion.

BACKGROUND1

1. The SEC Complaint and Related State Criminal Proceedings

From its inception in 2007 to approximately February 2014, Penn managed a private equity fund called Camelot Acquisitions Secondary Opportunities LP (the “Fund”). Willenken Dec. Ex. E at 1. According to the SEC’s Complaint, Penn misappropriated over $9 million from the Fund through a series of purported “due diligence” payments to an entity called Ssecurion LLC (“Ssecurion”) that was controlled by Penn’s co-conspirator. Compl. (Dkt. 151-1) at ¶ 2. Monies paid to Ssecu-rion were transferred to Penn and used for his personal and business expenses. Compl. ¶¶ 2, 4. Based on the same facts as underlie the SEC’s Complaint, Penn was indicted in state court for grand larceny, money laundering, and falsifying business records. PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 3. Given the substantial overlap between the legal and factual issues in the SEC’s civil case and the state criminal case, on June 11, 2014, the Court granted the SEC’s motion to stay all discovery pending the outcome of Penn’s criminal case. Dkt. 51. On March 16, 2015, Penn pled guilty to one count of grand larceny in the first degree and one count of falsifying business records in the first [231]*231degree.2 PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 6.

2. The Amended Answer and Allocution

As a part of his guilty plea allocution, Penn admitted that he made a false entry in a schedule of invoices in the Fund’s business records “with the intent to defraud, including an intent to commit another crimef.]” PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 9; Willenken Dec. Ex. G (plea allocution) at 7:2-12. Penn also admitted that he stole in excess of $1 million from the Fund. PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 8.c; Willenken Dec. Ex. G at 6:18-7:1.

In addition to those admissions, Penn filed an amended answer to the SEC’s Complaint. Dkt. 129. In his amended answer, Penn admitted that he “sent” $9.3 million from the Fund to two Penn-controlled entities, Camelot Acquisitions Secondary Opportunities Management LLC (“CASO Management”) and Camelot Group International LLC (“CGI”), and that he did so through Ssecurion. PL 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 18 (citing Am. Answer ¶ 3, 3d Aff. Def.). According to Penn, CGI used the money to pay overhead expenses including rent and salary. Id. ¶ 19 (citing Am. Answer ¶¶ 3—4). Penn also admits mischarac-terizing the use of Fund money, id. ¶ 20 (citing Am. Answer ¶ 2), and he forthrightly admits liability for violations of Section 204 of the 40 Act and Rule 204-2 thereunder, id. ¶ 22 (citing Am. Answer ¶ 6).

But Penn has responded imprecisely and ambiguously to other facts regarding the details of the scheme alleged in the Complaint, particularly allegations related to the connection between Penn’s scheme and the misstatements in the Fund’s records. For example, Penn denies knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of “some of the allegations in Paragraph 29 of the Complaint.” Am. Answer ¶ 29. It is in that paragraph that the SEC alleges that the transfers to Ssecu-rion were characterized as “due diligence” payments and that the purported due diligence payments from 2010 through October 2013 total almost $9.3 million—the same amount Penn admits he “diverted.” Compare Comp. ¶ 29, and Am. Answer ¶ 3, 3d Aff. Def. Penn also denied knowledge adequate to form a belief as to some, but not all, of the SEC’s allegations that the Ssecurion invoices for “due diligence” expenses were included in the Fund’s records—the same records Penn admits were inaccurate in some unspecified way—and that he created purported work product to correspond to those invoices in response to an investigation by the Fund’s auditors.3 Compare Compl. ¶¶ 5, 30, 37 and Am. Answer ¶¶ 5, 30, 37. These ambiguous denials do not comply with the minimum requirements under Rule 8, even accounting for Penn’s pro se status, because Penn denied knowledge adequate to form a belief only as to some of the SEC’s allega[232]*232tions.4 By failing to specify what portions of the SEC’s allegations were beyond his knowledge and by failing to specifically deny the allegations that were within his knowledge, Penn has left the Court guessing. Given the inappropriate and ambiguous nature of these responses, the Court deems the SEC’s allegations in paragraphs 5, 29, 30, and 37 of the Complaint to have been admitted. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b); Dawkins v. Williams, 511 F.Supp.2d 248, 270-71 (N.D.N.Y. 2007) (deeming admitted allegations which defendant improperly denied in his answer).

3. The Instant Motion

The SEC’s motion is based on Penn’s admissions in his guilty plea allocution and in his amended answer. Because many of Penn’s responses do not comply with the basic requirements of Rule 8(b), the SEC contends that the Complaint is essentially uncontroverted with respect to its Exchange Act and 40 Act claims, with the exception of its claim pursuant to Section 207 of the 40 Act. Pl.’s Mem. (Dkt. 150) at 2.

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Bluebook (online)
225 F. Supp. 3d 225, 2016 WL 7413518, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177409, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/securities-exchange-commission-v-penn-nysd-2016.