The court fight over a $14 million SEC whistleblower award to short seller Carson Block escalated Monday, with his collaborator alleging Block deceived him while also acknowledging that neither man may have deserved the money.
Kevin Barnes argued in a new federal filing that Block worked behind the scenes to convince Securities and Exchange Commission investigators to cut him out of the bounty, which stemmed from a 2011 report the men authored that eventually led to SEC enforcement action against a Chinese company. Barnes made similar arguments in a New York state court filing earlier this year, but the new filing in the Southern District of New York provides greater detail.
After the SEC announced a $55.6 million settlement with Focus Media in 2015, Barnes and Block agreed to file a whistleblower claim with the SEC, arguing that their work led the agency to investigate and to the final settlement. This year, the SEC awarded Block $14 million under its whistleblower program while denying Barnes’ claims.
The SEC decision made “clear that that Block had plainly not been honest or faithful to Mr. Barnes, and, indeed had been working to deliberately ensure that only Mr. Block—and not Mr. Barnes—receive the opportunity at sharing in any whistleblower award,” Barnes’ attorneys...
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