Ken Leech, the former co-Chief Investment Officer of Western Asset Management Co., is currently facing legal action from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly participating in a "cherry-picking" scheme.

The SEC claims that Leech engaged in unfair trade allocation, favoring certain portfolios with more profitable trades while assigning less favorable trades to others. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Manhattan, accuses Leech of executing trades and then delaying their allocation, often until the end of the trading day, which goes against the firm's established training protocols for portfolio managers.

In addition to the civil charges, Leech has also been criminally charged by the SEC.