UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

SEC Admin Release 34-84359; IA Release 5055, October 4, 2018: The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ("Advisers Act") against Paul T. Rampoldi ("Rampoldi" or "Respondent"). The Commission finds that on October 1, 2018, a final judgment was entered by consent against Rampoldi, permanently enjoining him from future violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, in the civil action entitled Securities and Exchange Commission v. Paul T. Rampoldi, Civil Action Number 3:16-cv-02017-MMA, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. The Commission's complaint alleged that between March 2009 and April 2012 Rampoldi engaged in insider trading. In particular, Rampoldi purchased or caused to be purchased Ardea Biosciences, Inc. ("Ardea") securities based on tips he received of material, nonpublic information regarding which he knew, recklessly disregarded, or should have known was in violation of a fiduciary duty, or obligation arising from a similar relationship of trust and confidence, to keep the information confidential. The Complaint further alleged that Rampoldi shared in the profits of his co-defendants, who traded in the securities of Ardea. On March 9, 2018, Rampoldi was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, in the criminal action entitled United States v. Paul T. Rampoldi, Crim. Case No. 3:16-cr-1842, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. The count of the criminal indictment to which Rampoldi was found guilty alleged, inter alia, that Rampoldi conspired to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The indictment alleged that, beginning in 2011 and continuing through at least April 2012, Rampoldi obtained material, nonpublic information about Ardea from his co-conspirators, purchased or caused to be purchased Ardea securities based on those tips, and received a portion of the profits realized from trading in Ardea securities by his co-conspirators.

Order

Bar (Permanent)

broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or NRSRO

Indefinite

10/4/2018

participating in any offering of a penny stock

Indefinite

10/4/2018

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

SEC Press Release 2016-160/August 11, 2016: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Paul Rampoldi (Rampoldi) with participating in an insider trading scheme to profit in advance of two major announcements out of a pharmaceutical company. The SEC alleges that Rampoldi coordinated the insider trading with two other brokers at his firm as well as a then IT executive at the California based biotechnology company that involved the insider trading securities. An employee at the biotechnology company tipped one of the brokers ahead of the company's announcement of an agreement to license a cancer drug and later tipped him in advance of its acquisition. According to the SEC's complaint, Rampoldi and one of his customers, who also happened to be a close friend of his, made approximately $90,000 in illicit profits by trading ahead of those announcements based on nonpublic information that flowed to them through one of the fellow brokers who learned it from the other after he was tipped by the IT executive. It was decided that in order to evade detection by the compliance department at the brokerage firm where Rampoldi and the others worked, Rampoldi's customer would fund the purchase of the securities call option contracts in a brokerage account he held at a different brokerage firm, and they would subsequently divide the profits among them. The SEC's complaint charges Rampoldi with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions as well as disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.

Judgment Rendered

Disgorgement

$20,041.00

Monetary Penalty other than Fines

Injunction

Wire Fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343)

Dismissed

Conspiracy to Commit Securities fraud by engaging in insider trading, wire fraud, and money laundering

Convicted

Securities Fraud (15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b), 78ff; 17 C.F.R. §§ 240.10b-5, 240.10b5-1)

Dismissed