Litigation Releases (Jeffrey Higgins)

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 26521 / April 6, 2026

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jeffrey Higgins, No. 2:26-cv-00676 (D. Or. filed Apr. 6, 2026)

SEC Charges Former Investment Adviser for Allegedly Misappropriating Securities From His Clients

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged former Baker City, Oregon resident Jeffrey Higgins with allegedly misappropriating more than $800,000 worth of securities from twelve of his investment advisory and brokerage clients.

The SEC's complaint alleges that, between September 2017 and February 2024, Higgins, a former registered representative and investment adviser representative, misappropriated clients' securities through a sham investment program that he created. According to the complaint, Higgins falsely told clients that he had created an investment program to purchase discounted securities at a third-party transfer agent, and then sell the securities for a profit. The complaint alleges that, in reality, Higgins used client funds to purchase securities at the transfer agent without any discount, and used falsified documents and signatures to divert some of those securities to his personal brokerage account.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, charges Higgins with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, including conduct-based injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Duncan C. Simpson LaGoy and was supervised by Erin Wilk, David Zhou, and Jason H. Lee of the SEC's San Francisco Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Mr. Simpson LaGoy and Jason M. Bussey.