SEC charges investment advisor in alleged scam

The federal suit alleges that Delta Global Advisors Inc. and its president, Charles Hanlon, misrepresented the firm's size and poor financial condition. In four separate filings, says the SEC, Delta claimed to manage between $656 million and $1.49 billion in assets. In fact, assets under management dropped to as low as $9 million. Cease and desist orders have been initiated. From civil suit:

Hanlon knew or was reckless in not knowing that the representations made about assets under management and providing advisory services to a registered investment company were materially false. In addition, even after Hanlon was advised by an investment advisory compliance firm and Commission staff that Delta was not acting as an investment adviser to a registered investment company and that it should not consider the trusts' assets as Delta's assets under management, Delta and Hanlon continued to post additional articles on Delta's website that included the trusts' assets as its assets under management.