Sam Wyly Settles Federal Fraud Charges for $198.1M
Sam Wyly, an ex-Texas billionaire who has declared bankruptcy, will pay $198.1 million to settle federal securities regulator claims accusing him of securities fraud to hide trades in companies that were under his control through the use of offshore trusts. A federal bankruptcy judge in Dallas and the SEC commissioners must still approve the settlement.
According to the agreement, Wyly and his family must take action so that offshore trusts in the Isle of Man will issue payments to satisfy the judgment that the SEC obtained last year against him and his now-deceased brother Charles Wyly. In the meanwhile, the regulator will make sure that the 81-year-old gets a credit against his almost $181M million of federal income tax liabilities.
The SEC, in its securities fraud lawsuit that it brought in 2010, accused the brothers of making $553 million in undisclosed profits when it traded in companies under their control by using the offshores trusts. Both said they did nothing wrong. However, in 2014 a jury found Sam and Charles’s estate liable. Sam Wyly was ordered to pay $198.1 million while Charles’s estate was told to pay $101 million.
The IRS also took the brothers to bankruptcy court. This year, a judge at the United States Bankruptcy Court in Dallas found Sam liable and told him to pay $1.11 billion in back taxes, interest, plus penalties. The conclusion of that case is still under negotiation.
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