Headquarters of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The sister of Wall Street financier Benjamin Wey, herself a defendant in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's action over fraud allegations, saw charges by regulators dropped yesterday, according to a filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Thursday.

Tianyi Wei—along with her brother and his wife—were accused of using nominees to secretly gain control of shell companies in August 2016. Chinese clients of Wey's firm, New York Global Group, would then allegedly go through a reverse merger with the shell company. The three family members then gain an ownership stake in those now-merged client companies. This control allowed for secret profit and control of these companies through their network of foreign nominees.

Last June, the judge overseeing Wey's criminal case, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan of the Southern District of New York, granted a sweeping suppression motion, essentially gutting the government's case against Wey. Nathan found the government's warrant failed to adhere to the specificity requirements under the Fourth Amendment.

In August, U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors filed a nolle prosequi notice that ended their criminal pursuit of Wey. The following month, SEC regulators alerted U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York that they too were unable to proceed because of the suppressed evidence in the case.

In Thursday's letter to Castel, the SEC did not identify what specifically led to the dismissal coming now, some six months after charges against her brother were dropped. A spokesperson for the SEC did not respond to a request for comment.

Haynes and Boone partner David Siegal, who represented Wey before joining Wei's team in an effort to persuade regulators to also drop charges, said in a statement that both clients and he were “thrilled” at the decision.

“The SEC's dismissal fully ends the government's case against Ben Wey and his family,” Siegal said.