Securities Trader Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

The Securities and Exchange Commission Jan. 24 announced that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Jan. 18 sentenced self-employed securities trader Randy M. Cho to 12 years in prison for perpetrating an investment scheme between 2001 and 2009, resulting in almost $8 million in losses from 57 investors (United States v. Cho, N.D. Ill., No. 1:10 cr 01099, 1/18/13).

Judge James B. Zagel also ordered Cho to pay $7.9 million in restitution.

The indictment charged that Cho’s victims were led to believe that they were buying stock in well-known issuers, when in fact, Cho misused the investor funds for his own personal benefit and to make Ponzi scheme-like payments to previous investors. According to the SEC’s announcement, “Cho’s sentence was lengthened , in part, because Cho lied to the SEC during its investigation.”

In a parallel action, the SEC obtained a final judgment against Cho in August 2010, ordering him to pay around $7.78 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and $150,000 in statutory civil penalty, the announcement added.

To see the SEC’s announcement, go to http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2013/lr22601.htm.