SEC Charges New York Registered Representative with Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled charges against Clarice Saw, a former registered representative associated with a broker-dealer in New York. The allegations pertain to her purported involvement in a fraudulent scheme that resulted in defrauding an elderly brokerage customer of approximately $2.4 million.

According to the SEC’s filed complaint, the period between December 2021 and March 2022 saw Saw, during her tenure with a registered broker-dealer, engage in a deceptive scheme that led to the misappropriation of around $2.4 million from an elderly customer. It is claimed that Saw liquidated all the securities holdings owned by the customer without obtaining the customer’s consent. Subsequently, she transferred the entire sum of investment proceeds into her personal bank and brokerage accounts. The complaint further alleges that Saw utilized a portion of these misappropriated funds to cover her personal expenses, including payments of approximately $100,000 towards car and mortgage loans, as well as significant cash withdrawals. Additionally, she is accused of using further misappropriated funds to purchase securities within her personal brokerage account.

The SEC’s complaint has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. It charges Saw with violations of the antifraud provisions outlined in Sections 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as well as Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC is seeking several forms of relief, including injunctive measures, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and imposition of civil penalties.

The SEC’s investigative efforts were led by Sheldon Mui, Jack Kaufman, Neil Hendelman, and Gerald A. Gross, all under the supervision of Tejal D. Shah from the New York Regional Office.