[May 09, 2013] SEC hits Wild minority owner Philip Falcone with $18 million fine, 2-year ban Tweet May 10, 2013 (Pioneer Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Iron Ranger Philip Falcone, the self-made billionaire and minority Minnesota Wild owner who amassed a fortune betting against subprime mortgages before the 2008 financial crisis, was fined $18 million and barred from being an investment adviser for two years Thursday in a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Falcone, who owns a 39-percent stake in the Wild, settled two lawsuits the government filed last year that accused the Chisholm, Minn., native of manipulating the stock market and improperly borrowing $113 million from his hedge fund to pay his taxes while other investors were prevented from accessing their funds. Under terms of the proposed deal, the Wall Street titan will return money to investors over time and agreed not to start another hedge fund for two years, according to CNBC. Regulators and a federal judge must approve terms of the civil settlement. He will continue to run Harbinger Group, the publicly traded company. "Today's news does not affect the Minnesota Wild in any way," the team said in a statement. Majority owner Craig Leipold, reached in Chicago where the Wild were preparing to play the Blackhawks in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series, declined comment. Falcone, who also has an ownership stake in the Tier-1 junior Dubuque Fighting Saints in Iowa, joined the Wild's ownership group in 2009 after Leipold succeeded chairman Bob Naegele, who sold the club for $250 million after investing $80 million to acquire the expansion franchise from the NHL in 1998. Falcone, 50, played hockey at Harvard and graduated with an economics degree in 1984. After becoming chairman and chief executive officer of Harbinger Group, he was celebrated for his shrewdness at Harbinger Capital Partners in leveraging billions from the troubled housing market before it crashed. Falcone and his wife, Lisa Maria, were major players in New York high society, subjects of several magazine articles that portrayed them enjoying a lavish lifestyle. In 2009, the couple reportedly paid $49 million for a 27-room Manhattan townhouse that used to belong to former Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione. Recently Falcone bet big and lost on LightSquared, a venture to convert satellite radio frequencies into cellular service that failed to win government approval. LightSquared is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Falcone's SEC scrutiny highlighted the debt trader's fall from grace, which became fodder for the New York tabloids. Still, Forbes ranked him the 377th richest person in the U.S. with a net worth of $1.2 billion in March. Falcone issued a confident news release Thursday following Harbinger Group's earnings report. According to CNBC, Falcone said he had grown the business "from a shell company holding approximately $150 million in cash and short-term investments to a diversified holding company with over $27 billion in assets and four key operating subsidiaries in the consumer products, insurance, energy and financial services business. I believe that HGI is well positioned for the next phase of its evolution, and we are excited about the future." Follow Brian Murphy on twitter.com/murphPPress. ___ (c)2013 the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Visit the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) at www.twincities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]