The former world heavyweight champion was oh-so-close to duking it out with his former advisor but the SEC has now beat him to the punch.
The former world heavyweight champion was oh-so-close to duking it out with his former advisor but the SEC beat him to the punch.
The regulator’s enforcement division announced earlier this week that Brian J. Ourand of Miami, Florida, a former advisor and president of SFX Financial Advisory Management Enterprises, Inc., is alleged to have misappropriated funds from three clients including Mike Tyson.
”The Securities and Exchange Commission deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative and cease-and-desist proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Sections 203(f) and (k) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Section 9(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 against Brian J. Ourand,” states the SEC order dated June 15, 2015.
It is alleged that Ourand took $670,000 (including approximately $300,000 of the boxer’s funds) and used for his own personal expenses. Carried out over a six-year period ending in 2011 when his employment was terminated by SFX, Tyson sued Ourand for $5 million after the misappropriation led Tyson to both take out a mortgage on his home to satisfy bankruptcy lawyers and a separate loan to pay the IRS.
Tyson, who wasn’t the only famous client of Ourand’s, believes the former advisor intentionally gave him "deceptive and faulty financial advice." As a result of this advice, or lack thereof, he was prevented from earning future potential income estimated at $5 million by his lawyer, Mark Garagos.
In a separate order, SFX, which is owned by Live Nation, was forced by the SEC to pay a $150,000 civil penalty to the SEC and its chief compliance officer, Eugene Mason, was ordered to pay $25,000 for failing to properly implement the advisory firm’s compliance policies.
Interestingly, Ourand’s gravy train ended in 2011 when a client’s credit card wouldn’t work and SFX undertook an internal investigation that revealed the extent of the advisor’s misdeeds resulting in his termination.
