The SEC reports that David Woodcock, regional director of the Fort Worth, Texas office since 2011 and head of the SEC enforcement division’s nationwide financial reporting and audit task force, is leaving the commission later this spring.
As regional director, he currently oversees a region that includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas.
Woodcock “helped form and lead the Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force that comprises a group of accountants and attorneys using innovative methods and technology to prevent, detect, and investigate potential fraud in financial statements and other accounting documents,” according to the SEC, which gave him an excellence in leadership award in 2013.
Upon his departure from the commission, two associate regional directors —Marshall Gandy, who oversees the office’s examination program, and David Peavler, who oversees its enforcement program — will serve as co-acting regional directors.
During his time as regional director, the Fort Worth office “litigated significant enforcement actions including trials that resulted in a jury verdict finding Life Partners, Brian Pardo, and Scott Peden liable for numerous false public filings and a jury verdict finding Charles Kokesh liable for defrauding his firm’s advisory clients and making false public filings,” according to the SEC’s statement.
“The Fort Worth office helped institute the first enforcement action under a rule that protects the ability of whistleblowers to report potential securities laws violations to the SEC,” according to the SEC. “The office also brought an emergency action against a Dallas-based trader for ‘front running’ his clients’ trades on hundreds of occasions, and filed a number of enforcement actions against individuals accused of affinity frauds targeting religious, military, and ethnic groups. Under Mr. Woodcock’s leadership, the Fort Worth office brought more than a dozen enforcement actions alleging fraud in securities offerings involving purported oil-and-gas ventures.”
In the statement, SEC Chair Mary Jo White also salutes his “exemplary dedication” and his “many contributions to the agency.”
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