John Stark, the Chief of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement for over a decade, has joined consulting firm Stroz Friedberg as a Managing Director in charge of the firm’s D.C. office.
As previously discussed in detail here, in the mid 1990s, Stark was among the first at the SEC to identifying the imminent, newfangled threat of online securities fraud. He was instrumental in establishing the SEC’s first informal “office” of people interested in Internet-related investigations and litigation, and became the first Chief of the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement when it was created in July 1998. The OIE evolved over time to handle cases running the gamut from conventional manipulation and insider trading to sophisticated account intrusions, hedge fund short sale violations, major offering disclosure violations, and violations of anti-money-laundering rules.
