Billionaire Frost retires as Ladenburg chairman amid SEC lawsuit

Billionaire Frost retires as Ladenburg chairman amid SEC lawsuit

By Brian Bandell – Senior Reporter, South Florida Business Journal
Sep 20, 2018, 9:35pm EDT Updated Sep 21, 2018, 8:55am

Billionaire Phillip Frost has retired as chairman and a board member of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services as he leads Opko Health and deals with a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit.

Miami-based financial services firm Ladenbrg (NYSE: LTS) named President and CEO Richard Lampen as chairman and appointed Executive VP and COO Adam Malamed as a board member.

According to Yahoo! Finance, Frost controls 67.3 million shares of LTS, or about one-third of its outstanding shares.

“I have decided to retire from the Ladenburg board and will concentrate my efforts on Opko Health and my philanthropic interests,” Frost said in a statement. “As a long-term shareholder, I am confident in Ladenburg’s outlook and look forward to its continued growth and success.”

On Sept. 7, the SEC filed a complaint against Frost and nine other men, plus 10 companies, including Miami-based Opko (Nasdaq: OPK), accusing them of participating in a $27 million penny stock fraud. In a scheme allegedly orchestrated by Barry C. Honig of Boca Raton, the group engaged in a “pump-and-dump” scheme to manipulate the prices of three penny stocks, according to the complaint.

Frost denied wrongdoing in a statement on Sept. 14.

The complaint did not mention Ladenburg. However, shares of LTS fell sharply after the SEC lawsuit was announced. Ladenburg works on many public offerings and issues analyst reports on stocks. The SEC is its main regulatory body.

“We thank Phil for his service to Ladenburg and its shareholders over the past 14 years,” Lampen said. “Ladenburg would not be where it is today without his many contributions, and his presence in the boardroom will be sorely missed.”

Frost remains a board member of Grove Bank & Trust. The Frost family has been among the biggest donors to the University of Miami, the Frost Museum of Science in Miami, Mount Sinai Medical Center, and Florida International University’s art museum.

 

More market manipulation.


Go away

 

Losing sleep are you? Getting nervous? Doesn't look good for you now does it?
Read the artical and weep. LOL.