Peter Jenson, the former chief operating officer at New York-based Harbinger Capital Partners, has agreed to settle charges that he assisted a scheme by the firm and its owner Philip Falcone to “misappropriate millions of dollars from a hedge fund they managed to pay Falcone’s personal taxes."

Peter Jenson, the former chief operating officer at New York-based Harbinger Capital Partners, has agreed to settle charges that he assisted a scheme by the firm and its owner Philip Falcone to “misappropriate millions of dollars from a hedge fund they managed to pay Falcone’s personal taxes,” the Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday.

Jenson, who was charged along with Falcone and Harbinger in a 2012 enforcement action, has agreed to admit wrongdoing and pay a $200,000 penalty. (Falcone and Harbinger consented to a settlement last year in which they agreed to pay over $18 million and admit wrongdoing.)

Jenson yesterday also agreed to be prohibited from working in the securities industry for at least two years as well as be suspended for at least two years from practicing as an accountant on behalf of any publicly-traded company or other entity regulated by the SEC.

The SEC said Jenson admits that he provided "substantial assistance" in connection with the loan by failing to: ensure that the lender (Harbinger Capital Partners Special Situations Fund) had separate counsel; ensure the loan was consistent with Falcone’s fiduciary obligations to the fund; ensure that Falcone paid an “above market” interest rate on the loan; disclose the loan to investors in a timely manner; and take actions to cause the lender to accelerate Falcone’s payment on the loan once the fund's investors were permitted to begin redeeming their investments.