The SEC sent Harbinger Capital Partners a notice saying the...
The SEC sent Harbinger Capital Partners a notice saying the agency is considering taking enforcement action against three executives including CEO Phil Falcone for securities violations, the hedge fund said in an SEC filing Friday. Harbinger is LightSquared’s largest investor.…
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A LightSquared spokesman said “the SEC matter in no way involves LightSquared or Harbinger’s investment in the company.” Harbinger didn’t comment. The notice “is an indication of the current views of the staff of the Division of Enforcement, prior to a decision by the Commission. It does not constitute a determination that the recipients have violated any law,” said Harbinger in the filing. It said the notice is related to “violations of the federal securities laws’ anti-fraud provisions in connection with matters previously disclosed and an additional matter regarding the circumstances and disclosure related to agreements with certain fund investors.” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, used the notice to push the FCC to release long-requested communications between that agency, the White House and LightSquared. “Today, documents have been released showing that Mr. Falcone and his hedge fund, Harbinger Capital, received a Wells Notice from the SEC,” Grassley said. “While this does not mean the SEC definitely will take action against Mr. Falcone and his hedge fund, it does show that the SEC staff believes there is sufficient evidence to consider recommending an enforcement action. Now the FCC is faced with the real possibility that it made a multi-billion-dollar grant of valuable spectrum to someone who could be charged with violating securities laws. I raised this concern seven months ago. Chairman Genachowski was dismissive. Now, more than ever, the FCC chairman should lead the effort to provide documents and offer insight into how the agency decided to give Mr. Falcone, Harbinger Capital and LightSquared this multi-billion-dollar grant.” Bloomberg reported Friday that the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Systems Engineering Forum draft of testing analysis says a major percentage of retested devices show interference issues with LightSquared’s proposed service. The NTIA and FCC said this year some retesting of general navigation devices would be necessary. Some 75 percent of the devices tested were susceptible to interference due to LightSquared’s terrestrial network, said Bloomberg. LightSquared and NTIA didn’t comment.