U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 21879 / March 9, 2011

SEC V. JASON BO-ALAN BECKMAN and OXFORD PRIVATE CLIENT GROUP, LLC, ET AL. Case No. 11 CV 574 MJD/FLN (D. Minn., filed March 7, 2011)

On March 8, 2011, the SEC obtained an emergency court order freezing the assets of Jason Bo-Alan Beckman, of Plymouth, Minnesota, and his registered investment advisory firm Oxford Private Client Group, LLC, for their role in a massive foreign currency trading scheme that raised at least $194 million from nearly 1,000 investors. The court also entered a freeze order against the assets of Beckman's wife, Hollie Beckman, who also received investor funds. In addition, the court issued an order appointing a receiver over all of these assets.

The SEC alleges that for their part in the scheme, Beckman and Oxford Private Client Group raised at least $47.3 million from at least 143 investors from August 2006 to July 2009 through a fraudulent, unregistered offering of investments in a purported foreign currency trading venture (the "Currency Program"). According to the SEC's complaint, Beckman told investors that each investor's money would be invested in the Currency Program, their money would be held in a segregated account, there was little or no risk to their money, they would receive guaranteed returns ranging from 10.5% to 12% per year, and they could withdraw their money at any time. The SEC alleges that these representations were false. According to the SEC's complaint, a significant portion of the investors' funds were never invested in the Currency Program but instead were used to make purported interest and return of principal payments to other investors and also diverted to Beckman and others' personal accounts. Beckman and his wife Hollie Beckman received approximately $7.7 million of investor funds. None of the funds was ever placed in segregated accounts at banks or foreign currency trading firms and the funds sent to the trading firms sustained significant losses.

The SEC's complaint charges Beckman and Oxford Private Client Group with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. In addition to the emergency relief already obtained, the complaint seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions, disgorgement, and civil penalties from the defendants. The complaint also seeks disgorgement from Hollie Beckman. A hearing on the SEC's motion for preliminary injunction has been set for March 15, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 15E at 300 South Fourth Street, 202 U.S. Courthouse, Minneapolis, MN.

The SEC acknowledges the assistance of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the National Futures Association, and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.