U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 24002 /December 5, 2017
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Tom Simeo, Misc. Action No. 1:17-MC-03194 (TNM) (D.D.C. filed December 5, 2017)
SEC Seeks Court Order to Compel Witness to Produce Documents and Testify in Investigation
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has filed a subpoena enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Tom Simeo ("Simeo"), a resident of New York, New York, for failing to comply with subpoenas to produce documents and testify in an investigation being conducted by the SEC's Division of Enforcement. As noted in the SEC's application, Simeo formerly was the Executive Chairman of a public company.
According to the SEC's application and supporting papers, the SEC staff is investigating potential violations of the federal securities laws with regard to the public company. In the course of its investigation, the SEC staff issued a subpoena to Simeo on March 10, 2017, requiring the production of certain documents and communications. As stated in the SEC's supporting papers, the company's counsel had represented to the SEC staff that Simeo was the only person who might possess certain responsive documents, including communications with two members of the company's board of directors, one of whom was the company's chief financial officer. As further stated in the SEC's supporting papers, the company's counsel represented to the SEC staff that Simeo had communicated with the board members and CFO by using a social media application on his personal electronic devices. Simeo produced only two documents in response to the March 10, 2017 subpoena, neither of which are communications with the two former board members and CFO, and has asserted that he is unable to access the communications on his personal electronic devices.
The SEC staff issued a second subpoena to Simeo on August 3, 2017, compelling his testimony. According to the application, although Simeo acknowledged to the SEC staff that he had been served with the subpoena and, initially, agreed to appear for testimony, he subsequently declined to testify and failed to appear on the appointed date.
The SEC's application seeks an order compelling Simeo to comply with the SEC's subpoenas by producing documents and appearing for testimony. The SEC staff is continuing its fact-finding investigation and, to date, has not concluded that any individual or entity has violated the federal securities laws.