SEC Agrees to First Ever Deferred Prosecution Agreement With An Individual

A “deferred prosecution agreement” (or DPA) is not a new concept to government prosecutors or to SEC Chairman Mary Jo White, but it is new to the SEC. Under a DPA, the government agrees to withhold prosecution in exchange for enforcement assistance — providing information, implementing internal compliance policies, or other cooperation with SEC investigations.

This tool has been around for a long time (Mary Jo White used it back in her days as a federal prosecutor) but the SEC did not use it until 2011 when it agreed to a DPA with the steel pipe products company Tenaris S.A. In agreeing to the Tenaris DPA, the SEC announced “its first-ever use of the approach to facilitate and reward cooperation in SEC investigations.” The SEC promised to refrain from civil prosecution of anti-bribery charges against Tenaris in exchange for the company’s strengthening and enforcing stricter internal compliance policies.

Now, the Commission announced that it has, for the first time, agreed to a DPA with an individual, Scott Herckis of Heppelwhite Fund LP. Heppelwhite, a Connecticut-based hedge fund, was charged in 2012 with misleading investors and misappropriating fund assets. Herckis was the fund’s administrator from 2010 to 2012. The Commission credits Herckis’ “voluntary and significant cooperation” in its decision to file an enforcement action against Hepplewhite. Last month, a federal judge in New York ordered the distribution of $6 million of the assets of Heppelwhite’s founder, Berton Hochfeld, to defrauded investors.

Under the DPA, Herckis still faces penalties for his involvement in Hepplewhite’s activities. Herckis is essentially banned from working in financial services for five years, and pays a $50,000 disgorgement fine. But as reward for Herckis’ cooperation, the SEC agreed to refrain from pursuing its civil charges against him.

In its press release, the SEC stated: “We’re committed to rewarding proactive cooperation that helps us protect investors, however the most useful cooperators often aren’t innocent bystanders… [t]o balance these competing considerations, the DPA holds Herckis accountable for his misconduct but gives him significant credit for reporting the fraud and providing full cooperation without any assurances of leniency.”