Miss. official: US agency ignoring fraud victims
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A Mississippi official says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has failed to distribute $100 million to 39,000 investors nationwide who lost money because of fraud by a financial firm.
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann on Wednesday said the federal agency has ignored inquiries about the money. He filed a brief last week supporting a federal lawsuit that seeks to force the SEC to distribute the funds.
Memphis, Tenn.-based Morgan Keegan & Co. agreed in June 2011 to pay $200 million to settle civil fraud charges that it overstated the value of mortgage investments as the housing market collapsed.
Hosemann says states distributed $100 million to victims in 2012, but the rest remains in a SEC fund.
SEC spokesman John Nester said there’s a proposed distribution plan under consideration.
