The assets of California financier Danny Pang (彭日成) and his Private Equity Management Group Inc, who US regulators say defrauded Taiwanese investors, will stay frozen under an emergency court order, government lawyers said.
US District Judge Philip Gutierrez at a hearing on Friday in Los Angeles asked both sides to file new briefs and set a hearing for June 15 on the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) request to keep the assets frozen and appoint a permanent receiver for PEMGroup, SEC lawyers David Van Havermaat and Lorraine Echavarria said in a telephone interview.
A hearing that had been scheduled for today before Gutierrez was canceled, the lawyers said. Charles Sipkins, a spokesman for Pang, declined to comment on the hearing.
Gutierrez issued the emergency order on April 27, after the SEC accused Pang, 42, of lying to Taiwanese investors about his credentials, forging insurance documents and paying existing investors with funds raised from new ones, while claiming the returns came from investments in life insurance policies.
The investors, including eight financial institutions and 35 wealthy individuals, have US$823 million invested with Irvine, California-based PEMGroup, showed a preliminary report filed on Wednesday by the temporary court-appointed receiver. The underlying assets would be worth US$213 million in a forced liquidation and US$426 million in an orderly liquidation, the receiver said.
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