Industry News

SEC Charges Pang With Fraud

(THE WALL STREET JOURNAL) - The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that financier Danny Pang defrauded investors of hundreds of millions of dollars and obtained a temporary order freezing his assets.

As part of the SEC’s civil lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez froze the assets of Mr. Pang and the Irvine, Calif., businesses he ran, Private Equity Management Group Inc. and Private Equity Management Group LLC. The judge also appointed a receiver, Robert P. Mosier, to safeguard the existing assets.

The judge ordered Mr. Pang to return money sent overseas and to surrender his passport. The investigation is continuing.

Mr. Pang’s investment practices came to light in a page-one article earlier this month in The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Pang stepped aside temporarily as chairman and CEO of PEMGroup shortly after the article appeared.

The company hired law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher to perform an independent investigation. A company spokesman had no immediate comment on the SEC allegations. Mr. Pang, 42 years old, traveled to China two weeks ago for a religious pilgrimage, according to his spokesman.

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