Consent Order Imposes $25k Fine on St. Bernard
St. Bernard Financial Services Inc. of Russellville will pay a $25,000 fine to the Arkansas Securities Department for failing to properly supervise broker Steele Stephens. read more >
St. Bernard Financial Services Inc. of Russellville will pay a $25,000 fine to the Arkansas Securities Department for failing to properly supervise broker Steele Stephens. read more >
Arkansas Securities Commissioner A. Heath Abshure said Tuesday that he has appointed Jack Pruniski of Hilburn Calhoon Harper Pruniski & Calhoun of Little Rock as hearing officer in the cases of Steele Stephens and Robert Keenan. read more >
W. David Crain, a former representative of St. Bernard Financial Services of Russellville, has agreed to a $5,000 fine and more than $4,100 in restitution for his handling of a widow's account. read more >
You may know that the Arkansas Securities Department is after W. David Crain, a CPA who worked for St. Bernard Financial Services Inc., the Russellville firm under fire for employing Steele Stephens, a broker who bribed former state treasurer Martha Shoffner. read more >
Robert Keenan, CEO of St. Bernard Financial Services, says the state Securities Department is retaliating for an ethics complaint he filed against Heath Abshure, although he was given notice of the department's plans before he filed the complaint. read more >
Federal prosecutors drew testimony Thursday from current and former Arkansas treasurer's office employees about how the state missed profit opportunities by selling bonds early and angry outbursts by former Treasurer Martha Shoffner, who is accused of illegally accepting $36,000 from a bond dealer. read more >
Former State Treasurer Martha Shoffner pleaded not guilty Thursday morning to 10 counts of mail fraud, charges that were added earlier this month to a pending indictment for bribery and extortion. read more >
Official corruption is generally associated with a desire for personal enrichment. But in the case of Martha Shoffner, the payoffs were small and, according to the FBI, driven primarily by housing concerns. read more >
Last night on THV 11 News, Arkansas Business editor Gwen Moritz told our news partner that "confidential human source 1" in the criminal complaint against Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner could really only be one person, broker Steele Stephens. read more >
Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner was arrested on federal extortion charges over the weekend and is to make an appearance in federal court. read more >
Arkansas lawmakers say they will ask federal or state investigators to look into Treasurer Martha Shoffner's decision to sell bonds before they matured, a move auditors have said cost the state more than $434,000 worth of earnings. read more >
