Late last week, the SEC filed a complaint and a temporary restraining order against $91.8 million garden tool manufacturer Spear & Jackson, as well as its CEO, Dennis Crowley. The complaint alleges that Crowley had been secretly selling company stock through brokerage accounts in the British Virgin Islands; the SEC alleges that Crowley's illegal sales total more than $3 million.

Kapila

At the SEC's request, The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has issued an order temporarily barring Crowley from serving as an officer or director of any public company, and appointed a corporate monitor to oversee the affairs of Spear & Jackson. The monitor, Soneet Kapila, had been with KPMG Peat Marwick, and now runs an eponymous restructuring consultancy. Kapila has been involved in numerous forensic and fraud investigations, and has worked in the past with the SEC, FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office.