Criminal Defense Lawyers

Financial Advisor SEC Criminal

When Your SEC Investigation Becomes a Federal Criminal Case

The SEC investigator said it was “just a routine inquiry.” Three months later, FBI agents showed up at you’re office wiht a search warrant. Now your facing federal criminal charges that could send you to prison for 20 years. You thought this was a civil matter—maybe some fines, maybe a settlement. Nobody told you the SEC Division of Enforcement works hand-in-hand with teh Department of Justice. Nobody explained that everything you said to SEC investigators was being forwarded to federal prosecutors who were building a criminal case against you irregardless of what the SEC told you.

Look, here’s the deal: if your a financial advisor or investment adviser facing SEC scrutiny, you need to understand when civil enforcement becomes federal prosecution. This article explains the transition points, what triggers criminal referrals, you’re actual sentencing exposure, and teh critical decisions you face in the next 72 hours that will literally determine weather you go to federal prison or not.

You Thought This Was Civil – When SEC Investigations Become Federal Crimes

The Securities and Exchange Commission cannot directly prosecute criminal charges. Their legally limited to civil enforcement actions—fines, disgorgement, industry bars. But heres what most financial advisors dont realize untill its to late: the SEC doesnt work alone. The Division of Enforcement has prosecutors from teh DOJ Criminal Division embedded in there offices. While the SEC has no authority to initiate a criminal case, they refer cases to the FBI adn Department of Justice constantly.

Real talk: your “civil” SEC investigation probably became a criminal investigation months ago, and nobody told you. The SEC sends a subpoena asking for documents about your advisory practice. You think its compliance review. Your providing detailed responses, explaining your fee calculations, describing client communications. What your not seeing: every word you say is being shared wiht a federal prosecutor who’s building a wire fraud case against you. By teh time you realize its criminal, the prosecutors already have 6 months of your statements—statements you made without a criminal defense attorney present becuase you thought it was just SEC civil stuff.

This is what they call “parallel proceedings.”

The SEC pursues civil charges while DOJ pursues criminal charges for the same conduct. The evidence shares between the agencies. Your SEC testimony gets used at you’re criminal trial. And here’s the cooperation paradox that destroys financial advisors: cooperating wiht the SEC (which might help reduce civil penalties) can absolutely wreck your criminal defense. Every explanation you provide, every document you produce, every attempt to “make this right” with SEC investigators—all of it becomes evidence teh prosecutors use to convict you.

So the first decision you face is this: do you need a securities lawyer who handles SEC civil matters, or do you need a federal criminal defense attorney who understands both SEC enforcement AND DOJ prosecution? If theres any possibility your case involves criminal exposure—and based off the 2024 Treasury Department assessment of investment adviser prosecutions, fraud is teh most common federal criminal offense—you need criminal defense counsel immediately. Not after the SEC finishes there investigation. Not after you recieve a target letter. Right now.

The warning signs that your SEC investigation already became criminal:

• SEC asks questions about your “intent” or what you “knew” at specific times
• Investigators mention the FBI, DOJ, or US Attorney’s Office
• Questions focus on communications you had wiht specific people on specific dates (they already have your emails)
• Your being asked about conduct from several years ago (statue of limitations for criminal fraud is 5-10 years)
• The SEC sends you a Wells Notice—formal notification that enforcement action is comming

Bottom line: if the SEC is investigating you, assume its also criminal untill proven otherwise. The prosecutors doesn’t announce theirselves. They dont tell you its criminal. They let you keep talking to the SEC, making statements without 5th Amendment protection, building there case quietly. And then one day the FBI shows up adn your life is over.

The First 72 Hours – What NOT To Do After SEC Contact

You just got teh SEC subpoena. You’re looking at you’re files. Your seeing problems—missing compliance documents, client communications that look bad, fee calculations that maybe werent proper, Form ADV entries that aint exactly accurate. Your first instinct is to fix it. Clean up the files before you produce them. Delete some emails that are taken out of context. Update client records to match what they shouldve been.

Make everything look right.

DO NOT do this.

Obstruction of justice is a seperate federal crime that carries up to 20 years in prison. And heres teh thing that financial advisors dont understand: you can get charged with obstruction even if you didnt commit the underlying securities violation there investigating. The cover-up becomes the crime. Period.

Look at what happened to the Connecticut financial advisor who obstructed an SEC investigation. John William Rafal didnt get charged wiht the securities fraud the SEC was investigating—he got federal criminal charges for obstruction becuase he altered documents during the investigation. That’s a whole seperate case based off what he did AFTER the SEC contacted him, not what he did before.

18 U.S.C. 1519 makes it a federal crime to destroy, alter, or falsify records in a federal investigation. It doesnt matter if the alteration is “small” or if your just “correcting errors.” If you do it after recieving a subpoena or document request, its obstruction. Twenty years maximum. And prosecutors love obstruction charges becuase their easy to prove—did you change teh document? Yes. Did you do it after teh investigation started? Yes. Guilty.

Here’s what you should NOT do in teh first 72 hours after SEC contact:

• Don’t delete any emails, text messages, WhatsApp conversations, or other communications. The January 2025 SEC enforcement action hit 12 firms wiht $63 million in penalties for recordkeeping failures—off-channel communications. Deleting those messages after a subpoena = obstruction charges.
• Don’t alter client files, compliance documents, or Form ADV filings. Prosecutors can prove alterations through metadata, previous versions, backup systems.
• Don’t talk to teh SEC without a criminal defense attorney present. The cooperation paradox—your trying to help yourself in the civil case, but your creating evidence for the criminal case.
• Don’t discuss the investigation wiht employees, clients, or other potential witnesses. Witness tampering is another federal crime (18 U.S.C. 1512).
• Don’t assume you have time to “figure things out later.” The clock is running. Every day without counsel your making decisions that affect weather you go to prison.

I mean, think about it: the advisor who spends a weekend “organizing files” before producing them to the SEC—their creating a federal case against themselves. The forensic accountants the SEC hires can tell when documents was modified. The metadata shows edit dates. Your “cleanup” leaves a trail that proves consciousness of guilt. And then teh prosecutors add obstruction charges on top of whatever securities violations they were investigating, and now your facing 30-40 years instead of 10-15.

So basically, teh first 72 hours after SEC contact, you do nothing except call a federal criminal defense attorney who handles SEC cases. You dont produce documents untill counsel reviews the subpoena. You dont speak to investigators. You dont touch any files. You preserve everything exactly as it is, even if it looks bad, becuase alteration is worse then the underlying problem.

And here’s the urgency: if you already started “cleaning up” files, you need counsel even more desperately. Obstruction charges can sometimes be mitigated if you stop immediately adn disclose what you did. But if you continue destroying evidence, or if prosecutors discover it before you disclose, your options disappear. The window to fix obstruction mistakes is measured in days, not weeks.

Form ADV and Registration Lies – The Perjury Trap You Didn’t See

Every registered investment adviser files Form ADV wiht the SEC annually. Its the registration document that discloses you’re assets under management, fee structure, disciplinary history, conflicts of interest, custody arrangements. Most financial advisors treat it like routine paperwork—fill it out, submit it, move on.

Here’s what they dont realize: you sign Form ADV under penalty of perjury. Every statement on that form is a sworn statement to a federal agency. And false statements to federal investigators or on federal forms is a crime under 18 U.S.C. 1001—up to 5 years in prison per false statement.

Now do teh math.

If you filed Form ADV annually for 10 years, and you understated you’re assets under management each year, thats 10 seperate false statements. Ten felony counts. Fifty years maximum exposure. Prosecutors can charge each annual filing as a seperate count of false statements, and the sentences stack.

Common Form ADV lies that become federal criminal charges:

• Understating AUM to avoid higher regulatory tier or additional compliance requirements
• Omitting disciplinary history—previous SEC actions, FINRA sanctions, client complaints, arbitrations
• Misrepresenting credentials—claiming CFP, CFA, or other designations you dont actually have
• Failing to disclose conflicts of interest—undisclosed compensation from product sponsors, referral fees
• False custody certifications—claiming you dont have custody of client assets when you actually do
• Inaccurate fee disclosures—actual fees charged differ from disclosed fee schedule

And heres teh thing about Form ADV prosecutions: there incredibly easy for prosecutors to prove. The form is signed. The statements are clear. The truth is determinable from you’re own records. Theres no ambiguity, no he-said-she-said, no complex financial analysis needed. You said X on teh form. The truth was Y.

Guilty.

This connects to the January 2025 enforcement priorities. The SEC just hit investment advisers adn broker-dealers wiht recordkeeping violations—failures to maintain proper books adn records, use of off-channel communications. When investigators dig into recordkeeping failures, they often discover Form ADV discrepancies. The advisor was using WhatsApp to discuss client accounts (recordkeeping violation), adn the communications reveal fee arrangements that werent disclosed on Form ADV (false statement violation). One compliance failure leads to another, and suddenly your facing a a stack of federal charges.

So if your looking at you’re Form ADV history and seeing inaccuracies, what do you do? You cant go back adn “correct” old filings after an SEC investigation starts—thats alteration of records, which is obstruction. You cant file amended ADVs now to fix previous years—prosecutors will argue your only fixing it becuase you got caught, which proves you knew it was false when you filed it. Your options are extreamly limited once the investigation begins.

This is why the Form ADV perjury trap is so dangerous for financial advisors. You may have filed inaccurate forms for years, thinking it was just paperwork, never realizing each filing was a sworn statement that could become a federal felony charge. And by teh time you realize the exposure, its to late to fix it without creating obstruction charges on top of the false statement charges.

What You’re Actually Facing – Criminal Exposure Assessment

Your attorney just said “federal prison.” You dont know if that means 6 months or 20 years. You dont know if its worst-case scenario or likely outcome. Your terrified but you dont have concrete information.

So lets do teh math on what your actually facing based off teh Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Securities fraud (18 U.S.C. 1348) carries a maximum of 20 years per count. Wire fraud (18 U.S.C. 1343)—which covers basically any fraud involving email, phone calls, or electronic communications—also carries 20 years per count. Willful violations of teh Investment Advisers Act carry up to 5 years adn $10,000 in fines under 15 U.S.C. 80b-17. Obstruction of justice: 20 years. False statements to federal investigators: 5 years per statement.

But heres what actually determines you’re sentence: the loss amount. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines (USSG §2B1.1) base fraud sentences primarily on how much money was involved. The guidelines work like this:

Loss Amount = Sentencing Enhancement

• Less then $6,500: no enhancement
• $6,500 – $15,000: +2 levels
• $15,000 – $40,000: +4 levels
• $40,000 – $95,000: +6 levels
• $95,000 – $150,000: +8 levels
• $150,000 – $250,000: +10 levels
• $250,000 – $550,000: +12 levels
• $550,000 – $1.5 million: +14 levels
• $1.5 million – $3.5 million: +16 levels
• $3.5 million – $9.5 million: +18 levels
• $9.5 million – $25 million: +20 levels
• Over $25 million: +22 levels adn higher

Each sentencing level equals roughly 6 months of prison time. So if the loss in you’re case is $5 million (putting you at +18 levels), your looking at approximately 9 additional years in prison just from teh loss amount enhancement. Add in other enhancements—more then 10 victims (+2 levels), sophisticated means (+2 levels), abuse of position of trust (+2 levels)—and your sentence climbs even higher.

Here’s teh thing prosecutors understand that financial advisors dont: the “loss amount” isnt just money that actually went missing. Its the amount “put at risk” by the fraud. So if you recommended unsuitable investments to clients wiht $10 million in assets, prosecutors will argue the loss amount is $10 million—even if the clients only actually lost $2 million, or even if they havent lost anything yet becuase the investments are still held. The amount at risk = loss amount for sentencing purposes.

This is why the $1 million threshold matters for prosecutorial economics. Below $1 million in losses, the US Attorney’s Office might decline teh case adn leave it to SEC civil enforcement. The resource commitment to prosecute a $500K case doesnt justify the result when they got $50 million cases waiting. But above $1 million—especially above $5 million—criminal prosecution becomes almost certain if theres evidence of intent.

And victim profile matters alot. Ten elderly retirees who lost there life savings = guaranteed prosecution irregardless of dollar amount, becuase teh victim impact statements at sentencing will be devastating adn the optics are terrible for any prosecutor who declines. One sophisticated institutional investor who lost $10 million = maybe prosecution, maybe not, becuase the victim had resources adn knowledge. The DOJ looks at who got hurt, not just how much.

So your actual criminal exposure assessment:

• Under $250K loss + sophisticated victims + no criminal history = possible civil settlement only, 20-30% chance of criminal prosecution
• $250K-$1M loss + mixed victims + no criminal history = 50-60% chance of criminal prosecution, possible probation or 2-5 years if convicted
• $1M-$5M loss + retail/elderly victims + no criminal history = 80-90% chance of prosecution, likely 5-10 years if convicted
• Over $5M loss + elderly victims + pattern of conduct = 95%+ prosecution certainty, likely 10-20 years if convicted

You need to understand: federal conviction rate is over 90%. If your indicted, you will almost certainly be convicted—either at trial or through plea agreement. Trials are expensive ($500K-$2M in legal fees) adn risky (if you loose at trial, you get teh maximum sentence; if you plea, you get 20-40% reduction for acceptance of responsibility). Most defendants plea.

Look, I mean, this aint like state court where you might beat the charges. Federal prosecutors dont indict unless there case is airtight. They got you’re emails. They got you’re client files. They got cooperating witnesses (probably your former employees who took immunity deals). They got forensic accountants who reconstructed every transaction. By teh time there ready to indict, conviction is nearly certain.

The only question is how many years.

So when your assessing you’re exposure, be realistic. If you misappropriated $3 million from elderly clients adn you lied to SEC investigators about it, your not facing “possible prison time”—your facing 8-12 years in federal prison as a realistic outcome. Maybe 15-18 if you go to trial adn lose. The sentencing guidelines are public. The calculation is math, not guesswork. Your attorney can give you a reasonably accurate sentencing range based off teh facts of you’re case.

And here’s teh brutal truth: once your indicted, your options narrow dramatically. Pre-indictment, you got leverage—you can negotiate cooperation, immunity, declination. Post-indictment, your leverage is gone. The only question is whether you plea for 10 years or go to trial adn risk 20. This is why the next section—Wells Notice response—matters so much. Its you’re last chance to prevent teh indictment entirely.

Wells Notice – Your 30-Day Window to Prevent Prison

A Wells Notice is formal notification from the SEC Division of Enforcement that there considering enforcement action against you. It lays out the violations there alleging adn gives you 30 days to respond—to explain why they shouldnt file charges, provide mitigating information, or make legal arguments against enforcement.

Most financial advisors treat Wells Notices as teh beginning of teh SEC process.

Its actually the end.

By teh time you recieve a Wells Notice, the SEC investigation is essentially complete. Investigators have gathered evidence, interviewed witnesses, analyzed you’re records, adn made a preliminary determination to prosecute. The Wells Notice is your last chance to change there mind.

And heres what competitors articles dont explain clearly: the Wells Notice response is your last opportunity to prevent criminal referral to DOJ. Once the SEC files civil enforcement action, criminal referral often happens simultaneously or shortly after. The SEC Enforcement Division coordinates wiht DOJ prosecutors throughout the investigation. If your case has criminal exposure, teh prosecutors already know about it by Wells Notice stage. Your response isnt just about preventing SEC civil charges—its about preventing federal criminal prosecution.

Statistics show approximately 50% of Wells Notices result in enforcement action. The other 50% get closed—either the SEC decides not to prosecute, or they negotiate a settlement without formal charges. So the Wells Notice response actually matters. Its not just a formality. A well-crafted response can convince teh SEC to close the investigation or settle civilly without filing a complaint. And if there not filing a complaint, there usually not referring to DOJ for criminal prosecution.

But heres teh strategic problem: a Wells Notice response that works for SEC civil purposes can destroy you’re criminal defense. If you admit facts to avoid SEC charges, those admissions become evidence in teh criminal case. If you argue “it was just negligence, not fraud,” your admitting negligence—which might reduce SEC penalties but doesnt help teh criminal case at all (and actually strengthens teh prosecutors hand becuase you admitted the conduct occurred).

This is why you need a criminal defense attorney involved in the Wells Notice response, not just a securities lawyer. The response strategy has to account for both proceedings. Sometimes the right move is to provide detailed response to prevent SEC charges. Sometimes the right move is to provide no response at all adn preserve you’re 5th Amendment rights for teh criminal case. Sometimes the right move is to negotiate a settlement wiht the SEC before they file, so you can control teh narrative adn teh charges.

What makes this urgent: you got 30 days from the Wells Notice date to respond. Thats it. Miss teh deadline, adn the SEC takes your silence as admission that the allegations are correct. File a bad response, adn you hand teh prosecutors evidence they’ll use against you at trial. File teh right response, adn you might prevent both SEC charges adn criminal referral.

And here’s teh timing issue: Wells Notice responses take time to prepare properly. You need to review teh allegations, gather mitigating evidence, research legal arguments, draft teh response, review it wiht both securities counsel adn criminal counsel. If you start the process 25 days after recieving teh Wells Notice, you aint got enough time to do it right. You need to start immediately—like, teh day you recieve it.

Some financial advisors think, “I’ll just explain what really happened adn they’ll understand it was a mistake.” No. The SEC investigators adn DOJ prosecutors dont care about you’re explanations at Wells Notice stage. They got teh evidence. The question is whether you can provide information or legal arguments they didnt consider that changes there analysis. “It was an accident” isnt new information—they already decided it was willful fraud based off teh evidence. You need to give them something that undermines there case or makes prosecution not worth the resources.

Here’s what a strategic Wells Notice response might include:

• Legal arguments why the conduct doesnt violate securities laws (not just “I didnt mean to”)
• Evidence that undermines key elements of teh SECs case (documents they dont have, witness statements, transaction records)
• Mitigating factors that make enforcement action disproportionate (no client losses, voluntary remediation, cooperation throughout investigation)
• Offers to settle civilly (disgorgement, penalties, undertakings) to avoid formal charges

What it should NOT include:

• Detailed admissions of facts that could be used in criminal trial
• Explanations of intent that only matter for criminal mens rea
• Promises of future cooperation that waive 5th Amendment rights
• Anything your criminal defense attorney says will hurt teh parallel criminal case

Bottom line: the Wells Notice is not routine correspondence you respond to when you get around to it. Its a 30-day window to prevent both SEC enforcement action adn federal criminal prosecution. Miss teh window or botch the response, adn your options for avoiding prison basically disappear. This is teh moment where having the right legal strategy makes teh difference between settlement adn indictment.

2025 Enforcement Priorities – What SEC Is Actually Prosecuting Now

SEC enforcement priorities shift over time based off new regulations, emerging risks, adn political focus. What they ignored in 2020, there prosecuting aggressively in 2025. If your a financial advisor trying to assess whether you’re specific conduct is on teh SECs radar, you need current intelligence.

In January 2025, the SEC charged nine investment advisers adn three broker-dealers wiht failures to maintain adn preserve electronic communications. Total penalties: over $63 million. The violations? Employees using WhatsApp, text messages, personal email, adn other “off-channel” communications to discuss business wiht clients adn colleagues. The firms didnt maintain proper records of these communications as required by securities laws.

This is a massive shift. Five years ago, most advisors used personal phones adn apps to communicate wiht clients becuase it was convenient. Nobody thought it was a serious compliance issue. Now its a major enforcement priority. The SEC treats recordkeeping violations as seriously as fraud, becuase the lack of records makes it impossible for regulators to detect other violations.

And heres teh criminal exposure angle: if you used off-channel communications AND you deleted those messages after recieving an SEC subpoena, thats obstruction of justice. The underlying recordkeeping violation might just be a civil fine. Deleting teh messages after investigation starts is a federal crime. So the 2025 recordkeeping enforcement sweep creates criminal exposure for advisors who tried to “clean up” there communication records.

Another 2025 priority: crypto adn digital assets. The SEC created a dedicated Cyber, Crypto Assets adn Emerging Technology unit within teh Division of Enforcement. Financial advisors who recommended Bitcoin, crypto funds, DeFi products, or NFTs to clients during 2020-2024 are now facing scrutiny. Many advisors thought crypto wasnt regulated, so they didnt follow normal investment adviser rules—suitability analysis, disclosure of risks, proper custody arrangements.

Wrong.

The SEC treats most crypto assets as securities. If you recommended securities to clients, you needed to follow securities laws—period. Advisors who told clients to buy crypto without proper due diligence, or who custodied clients crypto without proper registrations, are now getting SEC enforcement actions. And some are getting criminal referrals for fraud (misrepresenting teh risks) or false statements (on Form ADV, claiming they dont custody assets when they actually held clients crypto private keys).

The August 2024 FinCEN final rule also expanded anti-money laundering requirements for investment advisers. Advisors who previously werent subject to AML compliance now are. Failures to implement AML programs, failures to file Suspicious Activity Reports, failures to conduct customer due diligence—these are becoming enforcement priorities. And AML violations can be criminal under teh Bank Secrecy Act, not just civil regulatory violations.

Other current enforcement focuses:

• ESG misrepresentations – advisers claiming ESG strategies but not actually implementing them (“greenwashing”)
• Private fund adviser compliance – new rules for advisers to private funds, hedge funds, private equity
• Fee calculation errors – overcharging clients through inaccurate billing, undisclosed fee increases
• Custody rule violations – claiming not to have custody when you actually do, failing to get required audits
• Form ADV inaccuracies – we covered this earlier, but its a continuing focus area

So if your assessing you’re criminal exposure in 2025, ask: Did I use WhatsApp or personal email for client communications? Did I recommend crypto investments? Do I have proper AML compliance programs? Are my fee calculations accurate? Is my Form ADV truthful adn complete? These are teh areas where SEC enforcement is active right now, which means these are teh areas where criminal referrals to DOJ are happening.

The pattern we’re seeing: SEC identifies systemic compliance failure (like recordkeeping), does enforcement sweep across the industry, adn advisors who lied to investigators or destroyed evidence during teh sweep get criminal referrals. The underlying violation might be civil. The cover-up becomes criminal. So even if your comfortable that you’re conduct was just negligence or technical violation, you still got criminal exposure if you handled teh investigation wrong.

Target Letter – You Have 30 Days, Not 30 Months

A target letter is notification from teh US Attorney’s Office that your the target of a federal grand jury investigation. It means prosecutors presented evidence to a grand jury, the grand jury is considering indictment, adn there giving you a final opportunity to cooperate or provide information before they formally charge you.

Financial advisors who recieve target letters often think teh investigation is just beginning.

Actually, its ending.

By teh time you get a target letter, the grand jury investigation is essentially complete. Prosecutors have spent 6-12 months gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, analyzing financial records. The target letter is your last chance—typically 30 to 90 days—to cooperate before indictment.

Heres teh timeline: SEC investigation (18-36 months) → Criminal referral to DOJ → Grand jury investigation (6-12 months) → Target letter (30-90 days before indictment) → Indictment → Arraignment → Trial. By teh target letter stage, your already in teh final phase. The prosecutors have teh evidence they need. There not still investigating. There offering you a chance to cut a deal before they indict.

And teh deal there offering is usually: cooperate (provide information about others, testify against co-defendants), adn we’ll reduce you’re charges or recommend a lower sentence. Dont cooperate, adn we’ll indict you on every possible charge adn recommend teh maximum sentence. Your decision window is measured in weeks, not months.

Some targets think, “I’ll just ignore teh target letter adn maybe they’ll forget about me.” No. Silence is treated as refusal to cooperate. The prosecutors move forward wiht indictment. In fact, ignoring a target letter often results in harsher charges becuase prosecutors are annoyed you didnt even respond to there offer.

Other targets think, “I’ll explain my side adn they’ll realize it was all a misunderstanding.” Also no. The prosecutors already heard you’re “side” through teh evidence they gathered. There not interested in explanations at this stage. There interested in cooperation—will you provide substantial assistance against other targets? If yes, theres a deal. If no, theres an indictment.

The strategic question at target letter stage: Should you cooperate? The answer depends on:

• What information do you have that prosecutors want? (If you dont have anyone else to give them, cooperation isnt valuable)
• What are they offering in exchange? (Declination? Reduced charges? Sentencing recommendation?)
• What are you admitting by cooperating? (Cooperation requires admitting your own criminal conduct—are you willing to do that?)
• Can you actually win at trial? (If teh evidence is weak, fighting might be better then pleading guilty)

This is not a decision you make without a federal criminal defense attorney. The prosecutors will pressure you to respond quickly—”this offer expires in 10 days.” There trying to force a rushed decision before you fully understand you’re options. A good attorney will negotiate extensions, evaluate teh evidence against you, assess teh cooperation offer, adn advise whether cooperation is in you’re interest or not.

And here’s teh timing pressure: target letters typically give you 30 days to respond. But teh underlying grand jury can indict you any day. The target letter is a courtesy—prosecutors dont have to send it. They can just indict. So when they give you 30 days, there actually giving you 30 days to decide on cooperation before they indict anyway.

The clock is running.

If you got a target letter, your decisions are:

• Cooperate fully – Provide information, testify, hope for reduced charges or sentencing recommendation
• Negotiate limited cooperation – Proffer session (off-record discussion) to see what deal prosecutors will offer before committing
• Assert 5th Amendment – Refuse to cooperate, prepare for indictment adn trial
• Try to convince prosecutors not to indict – Rare, but sometimes defense counsel can show evidence teh prosecutors dont have that undermines there case

What you should NOT do: ignore it, respond without counsel, make statements to prosecutors without immunity agreement, or assume you got alot of time. Target letter = imminent indictment. You got weeks to make life-altering decisions.

Use them wisely.

What To Do Right Now

If your a financial advisor facing SEC investigation, Wells Notice, or target letter, your next decision determines weather you go to federal prison or not. This aint something you handle yourself. This aint something you handle wiht a securities compliance attorney who doesnt do criminal defense. You need a federal criminal defense attorney who understands both SEC enforcement adn DOJ prosecution, who handles parallel proceedings, who knows teh prosecutors in you’re district.

Call now. Not tommorrow. Not after you “think about it.” Not after you talk to you’re spouse or you’re business partner or anyone else. Right now. Your facing potential federal charges that could send you to prison for 10-20 years. Every conversation you have without counsel is potential evidence. Every document you produce without legal review is potential exhibit at your trial. Every day without representation your making decisions that could destroy you’re defense.

Look, teh financial advisor who waited three months to hire a criminal attorney—he’s now serving 12 years in federal prison. He thought he could handle teh SEC investigation himself. He made statements. He produced documents. He tried to “cooperate.” And every single thing he did became evidence teh prosecutors used to convict him. By teh time he realized he needed criminal counsel, it was to late.

The damage was done.

Don’t be that person. Your facing this alone otherwise. We’re here 24/7. Federal criminal defense for financial advisors facing SEC investigations adn DOJ prosecution.

Call right now.