The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused the city of Miami and Michael Boudreaux, a former budget director, with securities fraud related to several municipal bond offerings about four years ago, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Florida’s second-largest city and Boudreaux shifted money from a projects account to the general fund to mask budget gaps and win higher grades from ratings companies on three 2009 debt sales totaling $153.5 million, the SEC said yesterday. Boudreaux’s lawyer said he’s being made into a scapegoat. In 2010, the SEC began cracking down on state and local governments for not giving investors accurate information about their financial condition prior to bond sales, focusing on pension deficits. Since then, Illinois and New Jersey have both settled with the agency over such issues. The agency has since broadened its focus beyond retiree obligations, as in Miami.
