A former lawyer for the wealthy Texas investors Samuel and Charles Wyly agreed to pay nearly $795,000 and admit to wrongdoing to resolve regulatory charges that he assisted the brothers in a multi-year $550 million fraud, according to court papers filed on Thursday. The settlement between the lawyer Michael French and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was disclosed just 1-1/2 weeks before jury selection was set to begin in the case. The SEC has accused the Wyly brothers of using offshore trusts to hide stock sales in four companies closely tied to them. The accord marked the seventh time that the SEC has obtained an admission of wrongdoing from a defendant as part of a new settlement policy unveiled in June 2013 by SEC Chair Mary Jo White. The SEC had previously disclosed in court that it engaged in settlement talks with Samuel Wyly similarly demanding an admission of wrongdoing, but no deal has emerged. Charles Wyly died in an August 2011 car crash. An executor for
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