Jason Bo-Alan Beckman and the Oxford Private Client Group, LLC, et al.

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 21887 / March 16, 2011

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

On March 11, 2011, the SEC obtained a preliminary injunction order, by consent, against Jason Bo-Alan Beckman and The Oxford Private Client Group, LLC prohibiting them from violating the registration and antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The order also continues an asset freeze and the appointment of a receiver over the assets of Beckman and Oxford Private Client Group, which were previously ordered by the Court. The Court also entered a separate Order continuing the asset freeze and appointment of a receiver as to relief defendant Hollie Beckman.

The entry of these orders follows the filing of an emergency action and civil complaint on March 7, 2011, in which the SEC alleged that 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 Court's order of preliminary injunction prohibits Beckman and Oxford Private Client Group from 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. The Court's orders also continue the freeze and appointment of a receiver over the assets of Beckman, Oxford Private Client Group, and relief defendant Hollie Beckman.

See also LR-21879