Trevor G. Cook, et al.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Litigation Release No. 21633 / August 27, 2010

SEC V. TREVOR G. COOK, ET AL., Case No. 09-CV-3333 (D. Minn., filed November 23, 2009)

Minneapolis-Based Fraudster Trevor Cook Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on April 24, 2010, the Honorable James M. Rosenbaum of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota sentenced Trevor Cook to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $158 million in restitution on one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion for his role in a $190 million foreign currency trading scheme that defrauded approximately 1,000 investors. Cook was charged on March 30, 2010, and pleaded guilty on April 13, 2010.

Cook is one of the defendants in a pending civil injunctive action filed by the SEC on November 23, 2009 in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The SEC's action against Cook arises out of the same facts that are the subject of the criminal case. The SEC's complaint alleges that from at least July 2006 through at least July 2009, Cook and co-defendant Patrick J. Kiley of Minneapolis, Minnesota, raised $190 million from 1,000 investors through the unregistered sale of investments in a purported foreign currency trading venture. According to the SEC's complaint, Cook and Kiley pooled investors' funds in bank and trading accounts in the names of entities they controlled. The SEC's complaint alleges that the foreign currency trading they did conduct resulted in millions of dollars in losses, and they misused approximately one half of the investor funds raised to make Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors and pay for, among other things, Cook's gambling losses and the purchase of the historic Van Dusen Mansion in Minneapolis. The SEC's complaint charges Cook and Kiley with violating Sections 5 and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed an action on November 23, 2009, against Cook, Kiley and others for their roles in the scheme.

On November 23, 2009, the Court entered a preliminary injunction order against Cook and froze all of his assets. On January 25, 2010, the Court found Cook in civil contempt of the asset freeze order for failing to surrender more than $35 million in assets and ordered Cook jailed until he is in compliance with the Court's orders. Cook has not complied with those orders and has remained incarcerated.

For additional information, see Litigation Release No. 21313 (November 24, 2009), Litigation Release No. 21344 (December 18, 2009), Release No. 2010-12 (January 25, 2010), and Litigation Release No. 21484 (April 14, 2010).