Investment Adviser Accused of Lying to Retirement Fund Clients Pleads Guilty Richard G. Cody, an investment adviser who ran Boston Investment Partners and is accused of lying to clients about how he handled their retirement funds, has revised his not guilty plea. Cody is now pleading guilty to both making…
Douglas P. Simanski, a former Next Financial investment adviser and broker, has pleaded guilty to a $4.5M investor fraud for the criminal charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, and submitting false income tax returns. He is accused of bilking over 30 clients over a 14-year period. According to the US…
Former Financial Adviser Now Facing Years in Prison for $20M Investor Fraud Dawn Bennett, an ex-financial adviser and the operator of Bennett Financial Group Services, has been convicted of 17 criminal charges, including securities fraud, conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and making false statements on a loan application. It took…
Thomas J. Caufield, an investment advisor and the owner of and a Dallas-based investment education franchise, is now barred by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator recently charged Caufield with investor fraud, accusing him of lying to over 30 investors in a $6.8M offering fraud. According to the SEC,…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is ordering TD Ameritrade Inc. (AMTD) to pay a $500K fine for not submitting mandatory suspicious activity reports (SARs) even after the broker-dealer stopped doing business with 111 independent investment advisers. The regulator contends that between 2013 and September 2015, the firm ended its…
Former Michigan Financial Adviser Faces SEC Charges in $2.7M Investment Scam that Defrauded Seniors The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against Ernest J. Romer III, a former Michigan-based financial adviser with 47 disclosures on his Broker-Check record and who was barred by FINRA last year. Romer…
Steele Financial is Accused of Investor Fraud The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against investment advisory firm Steele Financial Inc. and its owner Tamara Steele. According to the regulator, they allegedly sold $13M of risky securities to over 120 advisory clients. A lot of these clients…
Lincoln Investment Planning to Pay Clients For Not Giving Discounts on Mutual Fund Shares FINRA is ordering broker-dealer Lincoln Investment Planning to pay $1.37M to clients to whom it did not give the discounts they were entitled to when they purchased mutual fund A shares between 1/2011 and 6/2018. The…
Four Transamerica entities have settled US Securities and Exchange Charges accusing them of misconduct involving investment models that were faulty. Collectively, the entities, AEGON USA Investment Management LLC (AUIM), its affiliated brokerage firm Transamerica Capital Inc., as well as its affiliated investment advisers Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. and Transamerica Asset…
$1M in Junk Bond Sales Helps Fund Cetera Acquisition by Genstar Capital According to InvestmentNews, private equity firm Genstar Capital will sell $1B of junk bonds to help pay for its acquisition of Cetera Financial Group, which will be bought for $1.7B. Genstar will use $700M of its own money…