The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are accusing Houston attorney and accountant Daniel Petroski and Texas A & M Professor Robert Watson of using forged bank records to engage in investor fraud. On May 21, the US District Court for the Southern District of…
VSR Financial Services, an investment firm, has agreed to pay $10.3 million to settle a FINRA claim that it failed to properly supervise two ex-brokers accused of improperly selling risky investments to 249 customers. The agreement ends the litigation brought by the investors, many of them retirees, against VSR and…
Six people have been convicted for conspiracy to commit securities fraud in a scheme involving the abuse of “squawk boxes.” The defendants convicted include former Citigroup/Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch broker Kenneth Mahaffy, former Lehman Brothers employee David Ghysels Jr., former Merrill broker Timothy O’Connell, former AB Watley Group Inc.…
Last week, Oregon’s Attorney General sued OppenheimerFunds Inc. for allegedly mismanaging the state’s 529 College Savings Plan when it recommended a bond that took risks that were not in alignment with the Plan’s conservative investment objectives. The 529 College Savings Plan allows investors to avail of tax benefits while they…
About 7,500 General Motors workers have agreed to a buyout of early retirement incentives and leave, the company reported today. Chrysler has also agreed to extend its offers bo buy-out workers beyond tomorrow. This follows tens of thousands of other autoworkers workers who were in recent years persuaded to retire…
In the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, UBS AG was named as a defendant in a class action lawsuit alleging that the company engaged in a tax scam designed to help rich US investor avoid federal taxes. The plaintiff in the case is the New…
The civil lawsuits that will be brought by the victims of Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion fraud scam are expected to be numerous and massive. Not only will they likely target Madoff and his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC., but a number of his family members who work for…
A recent New York Times article reports that according to new data, federal officials are prosecuting far fewer cases involving fraudulent stock scams than they did in 2000 before the Bush Administration came into office. According to financial and legal experts, less strict enforcement polices, Securities and Exchange Commission staff…
Wall Street Icon Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion “Ponzi” scam may very well have bilked hundreds, even thousands, of investors of their money. Now, many of Madoff’s victims are contacting the securities fraud law firm of Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LTD LLP to find out how they can recover their…
This month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision granting class action plaintiffs another opportunity to make their securities fraud claims against Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. The district court had previously dismissed the class action lawsuit as untimely under the 1934 Securities Exchange Act.…