Texas First Financial CEO is Arrested For Fraud Authorities have arrested Bobby Eugene Guess, an ex-Texas-based registered representative and the CEO and founder of Texas First Financial, for financial fraud. Guess promoted himself as a financial expert through financial seminars and radio promotions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He is accused…
Charles Caleb Fackrell is sentenced 63 months behind bars and three years of court supervision. The 36-year-old former North Carolina financial adviser, who worked with LPL Financial (LPLA), pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud earlier this year. He now must pay his victims nearly $820K in restitution. According…
Minnesota-Based Investment Adviser Gets Six-Year Jail Term According to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Levi David Lindemann was ordered to serve a 74-month prison sentence—that’s six years—for bilking clients in a Ponzi scam. Lindemann owned Gershwin Financial, which did business using the name Alternative Wealth Solutions. He pleaded guilty to…
The Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has charged Stephen S. Eubanks over his alleged involvement in a Ponzi scam. According to state securities regulator William F. Galvin, the former investment adviser took at least $529K from 15 investors, including neighbors, friends, and their families. Four of the investors…
IB Capital FX, Two Dutch Citizens to Pay Over $35M to Customers IB Capital FX, LLC, Emad Echadi, and Michel Geurkink must pay, severally and jointly, a $420K civil penalty and $35M in restitution for soliciting at least $50M from 1,850 customers internationally and in the US even though they…
The estate of Stanley Chais has agreed to pay the victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scam $277M to settle claims accusing Chais, a Beverly Hills manager, of enriching himself through the fraud while costing thousands of investors, including his own clients, money. Chais was one of Madoff’s oldest friends and…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has banned Stuart G. Dickinson, a Dallas broker, from the securities industry for recommending that customers back a Ponzi scheme. At the time, Dickinson was with WFG Investments. The firm fired him in 2013. In addition to the bar, Dickinson must pay seven customers…
SEC Charges Hawaii-Based Investment Adviser for Misleading Clients and Cherry Picking The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against Oracle Investment Research, which is based in Hawaii, and its owner Laurence I. Balter. The regulator claims that the investment adviser cherry picked trades that were profitable for…
Annette Bongiorno has settled a civil case brought against her over the millions of dollars she and her husband received from managing Bernard Madoff’s investment advisory business and their investments with him. Her job under Madoff was to manage customer accounts. Prosecutors accused Bongiorno of making false securities trades. Now,…
A U.S. District Court judge has ordered Medical Capital Holdings, related companies, and a number of executives to pay $831M of disgorgement. The disgorgement comes seven years after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought its securities fraud case against Medical Capital over its billion-dollar Ponzi scam. The allegations eventually…