The former president of a Washington, D.C., subsidiary of Beverly Hills entertainment giant Live Nation Entertainment Inc. is facing fraud charges in connection with stealing from clients.
The company, SFX Financial Advisory Management Enterprises, and its Chief Compliance Officer Eugene Mason, have also settled separate charges in connection with violations, including compliance failures.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Brian Ourand, 53, SFX’s former president, of stealing $670,000 from several clients’ accounts over a five-year period by, among other things, writing checks to himself. The company fired him in August 2011.
One of the possible victims is Mike Tyson, a former client of SFX and Ourand, who sued both the firm and Ourand in 2013. Tyson alleges Ourand, while at SFX, embezzled more than $300,000 from him and his wife and gave him false financial advice that cost him $5 million.
SFX, a financial manager and adviser to current and retired pro athletes, is also facing separate charges, along with Mason, for failing to adequately supervise Ourand and for making false statements in SEC filings.
Ourand could not be reached for comment. Thomas Zaccaro, the attorney for SFX and Eugene Mason, referred requests for comment to Live Nation, which declined to comment.
According to the investigation, Mason was responsible for false statements in the form and for failing to review cash flows from clients’ accounts as required by the firm’s policies as well as not doing an annual compliance review, according to investigators.
“SFX failed to detect an alleged misappropriation for years because it had insufficient internal controls to limit Ourand’s ability to withdraw client funds for personal use,” said Marshall Sprung, co-chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit, in a statement.
Under the settlement, the SFX has agreed to pay a $150,000 penalty while Mason will fork over $25,000.
Ourand’s case is scheduled to go before an administrative law judge on July 27 in Washington, D.C.
