Edward L. Moskop and Financial Services Moskop & Associates, Inc.

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 21983 / May 27, 2011

United States v. Edward L. Moskop, Case No. 11 CR 30077 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission v. Edward L. Moskop and Financial Services Moskop & Associates, Inc., Civil Action No. 10 C 7462 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

FORMER REGISTERED REPRESENTATIVE INDICTED ON CRIMINAL CHARGES IN CONNECTION WITH MISAPPROPRIATION SCHEME

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on May 19, 2011, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Edward Lynn Moskop, a former registered representative and licensed insurance broker from Belleville, Illinois. Moskop, age 62, was indicted on charges of mail fraud and money laundering. The indictment alleges that Moskop, operating as Financial Services Moskop and Associates, Inc., acted as a securities broker for several customers by making investments on their behalf. According to the indictment, from 1991 to 2010, Moskop persuaded customers to provide him with funds for investment, but instead of making the investment, he kept the funds for his own use. The indictment alleges that Moskop obtained by fraud approximately $2,400,000 from 25 victims. According to the indictment, Moskop's victims included his relatives, individuals referred by trusted friends and attorneys, a local Veterans of Foreign War Post, and long-time customers of his insurance business. The criminal case is being prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

The criminal charges against Moskop are related to the conduct underlying the SEC's civil action against Moskop and his company, Financial Services Moskop & Associates. On November 19, 2010, the SEC filed an emergency civil action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to halt an ongoing fraud on investors conducted by Moskop and his company. In its complaint, the SEC alleged that from 1989 until the filing of the SEC's action against Moskop and his company, Moskop misappropriated most of the life savings of at least two elderly investors. On the same day the SEC filed its case, the Honorable Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, United States District Court Judge, granted the SEC's motion for emergency relief, entering a temporary restraining order against Moskop and his company and an order freezing their assets. On November 27, 2010, the court entered a preliminary injunction against Moskop and his company and continued the order freezing their assets. The SEC's action, which is ongoing, seeks permanent injunctions against Moskop and his company, disgorgement of their ill-gotten gains, and civil penalties.

For further information, see Litigation Release No. 21752 (November 22, 2010).