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The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued Robert Shapiro, accusing the former chief executive of Woodbridge Group of operating a Ponzi scheme that raised more than $1 billion from individual investors for the now-bankrupt real estate operation, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Shapiro is accused of lying to investors, signing falsified documents and making “Ponzi payments to investors,” as well as using investor funds for his own personal enjoyment, among other wrongs, according to papers unsealed yesterday in a Florida federal court. A lawyer for Shapiro says the former chief executive denies the SEC’s allegations. “Mr. Shapiro is cooperating with the bankruptcy to protect the assets held for the benefit of Woodbridge’s stakeholders,” said Ryan O’Quinn, a lawyer for Shapiro. “He denies any allegation of wrongdoing and looks forward to his opportunity to defend himself in a court of law.” Woodbridge and some of its affiliates filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Dec. 4, a year into an SEC probe of its fundraising activities.

A District Court judge has upheld a bankruptcy court judge’s order dismissing an involuntary bankruptcy case filed by the state of Montana seeking $219,258 in taxes from Yellowstone Club co-founder Tim Blixseth but will allow the state to amend its case should new information arise, the Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune reported. U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey ruled Dec. 15 that there were no longer three “qualified creditors” as mandated in the 2011 involuntary bankruptcy filing against Blixseth and disagreed with Montana’s assertion that a bankruptcy court erred when it determined that claims by Idaho were part of a good faith, or bona fide, dispute. And that the bankruptcy court was right to determine that claims by the Yellowstone Club did not meet involuntary bankruptcy standards. Judge Dorsey granted Montana’s motion to file for “supplemental authorities that were filed after the parties briefs were filed in this case.”

For further analysis of the decision and case, be sure to read this column from the Rochelle Daily Wire.

John H. Durham, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Darryll Harmon of Stratford, Conn., waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to one count of bankruptcy fraud, according to a DOJ press release. According to court documents and statements made in court, Harmon was in default on his HUD-insured mortgage, which was held by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (“CHFA”). In January 2009, CHFA commenced foreclosure proceedings in Connecticut Superior Court. Between January 2009 and October 2013, HARMON filed seven petitions for bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut, which caused the foreclosure proceedings to be automatically stayed until the bankruptcy proceedings were resolved. The bankruptcy court dismissed all but one of the bankruptcy petitions because Harmon failed to pay filing fees or to file required information. On July 25, 2014, the bankruptcy court dismissed Harmon’s seventh bankruptcy petition and issued an order barring Harmon from filing for bankruptcy for the two-year period from July 17, 2014 through July 17, 2016. On July 1, 2016, Harmon filed another bankruptcy petition, this time in the name of another individual who lived in Texas.

Federal prosecutors said in a court filing Friday that notorious pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli owes the government $7.4 million as a result of his conviction on securities fraud and conspiracy charges over the summer, the Wall Street Journal reported. The prosecutors have some suggestions for how Uncle Sam can be repaid. Assets that could be seized to satisfy the judgment include a brokerage account worth $5 million, as well as a single-copy album recorded by the Wu-Tang Clan, for which Shkreli paid $2 million back in 2015. Prosecutors also flagged Shkreli’s stake in privately-held Turing Pharmaceuticals.

Level Solar, a Manhattan-based provider of rooftop solar power, filed for chapter 11 protection on Monday, citing debts in excess of $5 million, Newsday reported. The company listed assets of between $50 million and $100 million, and more than 200 creditors. Among the creditors was Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Cooper Electric Supply Co., its primary electric equipment and parts supplier, which is owed more than $4.5 million, according to the filing in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan. Level Solar sought bankruptcy court approval to hire a forensic accounting firm to look into “potential financial and other misconduct” of a former company official “and possibly others,” according to the filing.