Business & Tech
Lake Oswego Company Called Ponzi Scheme by Feds Ensnares Other Companies
The collapse of Aequitas Capital Management, which is the subject of action by the S.E.C., could bring down other companies.
When the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Aequitas Capital Management in Portland Federal Court earlier this year, charging the company had been operating in a "ponzi-like" fashion, there was a sense of more to come.
That happened this week when a class-action suit was filed against the financial and law firms that worked for Aequitas.
The suit, first reported by Portland Business Journal, charges the firms "participated and aided in the unlawful sales of Aequitas securities" and are responsible for the money lost by investors.
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The companies named in the suit - accounting firms Deloitte & Touche and EisnerAmper and law firms Sidley Austin and Tonkon Torp - did not respond to messages from the Business Journal.
The paper reports the lawsuit could grow in excess of $300 million.
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