Four ex-Georgeson LLC employees are now on trial for fraud. Michael Sedlak, Charles Garske, Donna Ackerly, and Richard Gottcent are accused of bribing an Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) employee for information about the way Georgeson’s investor clients vote on shareholder proposals. Georgeson is a proxy solicitation firm. ISS is registered…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has barred Jeffrey Palish, an ex-Wells Fargo (WFC) broker in the wake of allegations of senior investor fraud. The regulator is accusing him of stealing over $180K from an elderly client with no plans or means of paying her back. Palish was let go by…
SEC Accused Investment Adviser of Profiting from Cherry Picking The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil fraud case against Strong Investment Management, which is a California-based investment adviser, and its president/owner Joseph B. Bronson. The regulator is accusing them of running a cherry picking scam that…
Medical Products Executives Settle Insider Trading Charges The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that insider trading settlements have been reached with two ex-In Home Medical Solutions LLC officers, who are also board members. Todd M. Lavelle and Ara Chackerian are accused of illegally trading in Emeritus Corp. based…
The SEC has filed fraud charges against BitFunder and its founder John E. Montroll. According to the regulator, both of them ran an unregistered securities exchange and committed fraud against those who used the exchange by misappropriating bitcoins and not disclosing a cyberattack in which more than $6,000 bitcoins, worth…
SEC Accuses Atlanta Man of Misusing Over $1.2M in Investor Funds In an enforcement action, the US Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing Timothy S. Batchelor of misusing over $1.2M in investor monies. The funds were supposed to go toward the development of a submarine vessel and to businesses involved…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is warning investors to watch out for financial schemes in which the fraudsters are pretending to be the self-regulatory organization. FINRA released its Investor Alert noting that there have been scammers using its FINRA logo and name. In some instances they are even forging the…
Rabobank NA Admits to Anti-Money Laundering Deficiencies, Will Pay Nearly $369M Rabobank National Association, a subsidiary of Rabobank UA (RABO), has pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy for obstructing the Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s examination of the bank while hiding that its anti-money laundering…
Businessman Settles SEC Case Over Immigrant Visa-Related Investor Scam Ariel Quiros, a businessman accused of defrauding foreign investors seeking to earn US residency through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, has agreed to the settle the Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against him. As part of the settlement, which a court…
In the criminal case brought against them, two ex-Morgan Stanley (MS) investment advisers, James S. Polese and Cornelius Peterson, have pleaded guilty to the criminal charges against them. Polese was charged with conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, investment adviser fraud, and multiple counts of bank fraud. Peterson is charged with conspiracy,…