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The Commission announced that it has reached a settlement with the final defendant in an enforcement action relating to the initial public offering of NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc. John M. Lucarelli, 36, a resident of Greenwich, Connecticut, agreed to the entry of a final judgment in a pending civil injunctive action that would order him to pay disgorgement plus prejudgment interest totaling $18,450 and a civil penalty of $25,000. That judgment was entered on Dec. 12, 2008.

The Commission’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Connecticut, alleges that Lucarelli and his co-defendants engaged in a fraudulent scheme in connection with the initial public offering of NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc. The complaint alleges that the defendants illegally purchased stock in the NewAlliance IPO in violation of the federal securities laws. In particular, the complaint alleges that, beginning in or about February 2004, Robert Ross, one of Lucarelli’s co-defendants orchestrated a scheme in which he and others used seven depositors of New Haven Savings Bank to illegally obtain 490,000 shares of NewAlliance Bancshares stock at the initial offering price of $10 per share. According to the complaint, Ross recruited Lucarelli to locate depositors who would be willing to enter into arrangements with Ross. The complaint further alleges that, as a result of this fraudulent conduct, the scheme generated approximately $1.75 million in total profits.