Court Orders Woodbridge Group of Companies LLC to Produce Documents to SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an order requiring the Woodbridge Group of Companies LLC, of Sherman Oaks, California, to produce the corporate documents of several company executives and employees, including Woodbridge’s President and CEO.
According to the SEC’s application and supporting papers filed in federal court in Miami on July 17, 2017, the agency is investigating whether Woodbridge and others have violated or are violating the antifraud, broker-dealer, and securities registration provisions of the federal securities laws in connection with Woodbridge’s receipt of more than $1 billion of investor funds from thousands of investors nationwide. As part of the SEC’s ongoing investigation, on January 31, 2017, agency staff in the Miami Regional Office served Woodbridge with a subpoena seeking, among other documents, the production of electronic communications that the company maintained relating to Woodbridge’s business operations. The SEC’s application alleges that although Woodbridge was required to produce these documents to the SEC, Woodbridge has failed to produce any relevant communications in response to the subpoena, including those of three high-level Woodbridge officials.
The court’s order requires Woodbridge to produce the documents subject to the SEC’s application beginning October 2, 2017.
The SEC is continuing its fact-finding investigation and to date has not concluded that any individual or entity has violated the federal securities laws.