We have not had an arrest of the individual mayor, but I would classify this news as being under the responsibility of Mayor Linda Thompson, a MAIG mayor.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the City of Harrisburg, Pa., with securities fraud for its misleading public statements when its financial condition was deteriorating and financial information available to municipal bond investors was either incomplete or outdated.
An SEC investigation found that the misleading statements were made in the city’s budget report, annual and mid-year financial statements, and a State of the City address. This marks the first time that the SEC has charged a municipality for misleading statements made outside of its securities disclosure documents.
I love the quote from Philly.com:
“Under the settlement agreement, Harrisburg didn’t admit it did anything wrong, and agreed to stop doing it.”
Unless I’m mistaken, the SEC can only impose fines as punishments, and it’s the taxpayers who will end up being left with the bill.
Given that since the 1930s the SEC’s definition of “securities fraud” has been “whatever we say it is”, fines are a serious enough weapon.