A former Wells Fargo Advisor compliance officer faces an SEC enforcement action for allegedly altering a document before it was provided to the agency during an insider trading investigation.
The SEC charges that Judy K. Wolf in 2012 altered her report of a compliance review of a broker's trades, looking to identify possible suspicious trading. Wolf originally concluded there were no findings," in the September 2010 review, according to the agency.
Investigators two years later, who charged the broker with insider trading, requested a copy of the report from Wolf, said the SEC. The investigators then noticed she provided them with a document that was different from the original. The agency said Wolf made it appear that she performed a more thorough review in the altered report she submitted to investigators. "At first she unequivocally denied altering the document after September 2010, but in later testimony she testified that she had done so.
Wells Fargo, which reached a $5 million settlement with the SEC in this case, put Wolf on administrative leave and later fired her from the firm prior to the enforcement action.
"We allege that Wolf intentionally altered a trading review document after she knew that the SEC had charged a Wells Fargo employee with insider trading based on facts related to her review, said Daniel M. Hawke, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Divisions Market Abuse Unit. Regardless of her motivation, her conduct was inconsistent with what the SEC expects of compliance professionals and what the law requires.
Wolf lives in St. Louis. Her attorney, Steven Salky, said he had not received word from the SEC on the charges against his client. "Judy Wolf did nothing wrong and we look forward to clearing her of these baseless charges, he said.
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