The S.E.C. recently initiated legal action to restrain Jeffrey Higgins—who was previously registered as an investment adviser representative with Western International Securities, Inc. in Baker City, Oregon—from continuing to commit alleged violations of securities laws.
According to the S.E.C., Higgins “misappropriated [clients’ securities] through a sham investment program that he created called Cumulus.” To effectuate the alleged misappropriations, Higgin used client funds to purchase securities and then “misused a bulk transfer process . . . to divert some of those securities to his personal brokerage account . . . using falsified documents and signatures,” according to the S.E.C. The S.E.C.’s complaint also states that Higgins gave clients “fictious annual reports” that falsely represented the value of the clients’ investments. Higgins’ scheme reportedly came to light when he could not meet a client withdrawal request and then admitted his misconduct.
The S.E.C. filed its complaint in the United States District Court for District of Oregon on April 6, 2026, in case number 2:26-cv-00676. In a parallel criminal proceeding, the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon charged Higgins with violating the anti-fraud provision of the Investment Advisers Act. The United States Attorney filed the charge on April 6, 2026, in case number 3:26-cr-00087.
