Updated at 4:57 p.m., Friday, September 7, 2007
Honolulu adviser defrauded seniors, state, SEC say
Advertiser Staff
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the state of Hawai'i Securities Commissioner have filed separate securities fraud actions against Honolulu investment adviser Mark K. Teruya and his company, Senior Resources of Hawaii Inc., which operates as USA Wealth Resources.The SEC complaint, filed in federal District Court in Honolulu, seeks to halt activities by Teruya and his company and to seek return of alleged ill-gotten gains. Hawai'i Securities Commissioner Tung Chan has issued a prelimiinary order to cease and desist and is seeking to strip Teruya's state registration as an investment adviser.
The SEC said its suit alleges the defendants enticed seniors to entrust their life savings to Teruya, who had undisclosed conflicts of interest and commissions.
The SEC's complaint alleges that Teruya, through Senior Resources, has on multiple occasions fraudulently induced clients to sign a series of pre-printed, fill-in-the-blank forms by misrepresenting the purpose of the forms.
The complaint alleges that Teruya used the signed forms to sell the seniors' existing securities holdings without their knowledge or authorization. The complaint also alleges that Teruya, who is also a licensed insurance agent, then used the proceeds of the unauthorized sales to purchase equity-indexed annuities for which he received substantial, undisclosed commissions totaling about $2 million.
