The SEC is a civil agency. It does not have criminal authority and cannot put you in jail no matter how much it might want to or how hard it might try. And yet… people still find ways to turn the SEC’s civil case or investigation involving them into hard time in prison. Today, an SEC defendant was sent off to jail for contempt of court. He will remain there until he surrenders, among other things, a submarine.
Full details are available in this post on my Enforcement Action blog over at Compliance Week.