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Securities regulators are sounding an alarm in the bankruptcy of Woodbridge Group, warning that sales agents that got rich off the alleged Ponzi scheme are trying to steer the bankrupt real-estate company clear of an independent trustee, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Two of those sales agents, top moneymaker Lynette Robbins and Barry Kornfeld, who was barred from association with any broker, dealer, or investment adviser at the time he was out raising money for Woodbridge, deny any wrongdoing in connection with their roles in Woodbridge’s bankruptcy. Kornfeld said that the investments he sold to raise money for Woodbridge weren’t securities, so he wasn’t required to disclose his regulatory history when seeking to sway his clients on the question of who should run the company.

San Antonio oil and gas entrepreneur Brian K. Alfaro will have to pay about $8 million in damages to nine disgruntled investors after a bankruptcy judge determined Alfaro defrauded them, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The award is far less than the $44 million in damages that a group of 28 investors had sought against Alfaro, 48, and his companies. The group alleged they lost all of the roughly $14.7 million they invested with Alfaro and his companies, but had sought triple that amount in damages for violations under Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has added its voice to a call from creditors to appoint a bankruptcy trustee for Woodbridge Group, a real-estate firm that raised more than $1 billion from investors in what regulators are calling a Ponzi scheme, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A judge could say as early as Jan. 10 who will run the embattled company: the restructuring team chosen by departed chief executive and accused Ponzi mastermind Robert Shapiro, or a court-appointed trustee. The company opposes appointing a trustee. “We believe the time-tested Chapter 11 process, paired with the business expertise of the new independent management team, best protects the interests of creditors, offers them a voice in the process and will maximize recovery,” Woodbridge said in a statement. The company filed for bankruptcy protection Dec. 4, shortly after Shapiro handed the reins to a restructuring team, and shortly before the SEC closed in.

Evan Greebel, Martin Shkreli’s former attorney and co-defendant in a case alleging the two took part in a securities fraud scheme, was found guilty yesterday of two counts related to his role, the National Law Journal reported. Greebel, a former partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman and Kaye Scholer, was stone faced as U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto of the Eastern District of New York read aloud guilty verdicts for one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The jury handed up the verdict after it briefly held deliberations on Friday afternoon and again Tuesday. No date is set for sentencing, but Greebel faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Banks seeing a spike of suspicious activity in the months following natural disasters can use the information to better prepare for future crime-fighting efforts, according to an analysis of filings the banks made to the federal government by data-management firm Enigma, the Wall Street Journal reported. The firm, which last month began a series analyzing suspicious-activity reporting by banks to the U.S. Treasury Department, said yesterday in its latest analysis that it examined the linkage between financial crime and 20 natural disasters. It found the issues go beyond mere fraud: Banks are in the middle of preventing insurance exploitation, identity theft and cyber-related crimes following disasters.

China Construction America Inc. was accused in a lawsuit of ripping off the original developer of the long-delayed $3.9 billion Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas by submitting fraudulent bills and collecting undeserved fees, Bloomberg News reported. BML Properties Ltd., led by wealthy Bahamas businessman Sarkis Izmirlian, sued CCA Tuesday claiming the state-owned Chinese contractor pulled off a “massive fraud” to enrich itself at BML’s expense, leading to the collapse of the project in 2015. Delays in the construction of the biggest and most expensive resort to be built in the Caribbean have been a drag on the Bahamian economy in recent years. BML claims that CCA submitted hundreds of millions of dollars in fake bills, understaffed the project and used it as a training ground for inexperienced workers. CCA knew it wouldn’t be able to meet the planned December 2014 deadline to open the resort but created the appearance that it would, in order to remain on the project and collect undeserved fees, BML claims. BML is seeking at least $2.25 billion in damages. BML filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware in 2015. A U.S. bankruptcy judge dismissed the case in favor of a Bahamian court.