UPDATE 1-SEC charges Madoff recruiter with fraud

Published: 22 Jun 2009 09:28:27 PST

NEW YORK, June 22 - U.S. securities regulators on Monday filed civil fraud charges against brokerage firm Cohmad Securities Corp over the Bernard Madoff affair, saying it had solicited client money for the swindler while disregarding facts showing he was operating a scam.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Cohmad; its chairman, Maurice Cohn; Chief Operating Officer Marcia Cohn; and registered representative Robert Jaffe with fraud. The case was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Also charged in a separate complaint was California-based investment adviser Stanley Chais, who oversaw three funds that had invested all of their assets with Madoff, the SEC said. When the Ponzi scheme collapsed, the SEC said, Chais investors' accounts were valued at nearly $1 billion.

Lawyers for the defendants were not immediately available for comment.