The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Breitling Energy Corp. (BECC), Breitling Oil & Gas Corporation, Patriot Energy Inc., Crude Energy, LLC, and eight people over an $80M Texas oil and Gas scam run by a Dallas man. Chris Faulkner, who is Breitling Energy Corp.’s CEO, is accused of…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has gotten a court order to freeze the assets of investment adviser Ash Narayan. He is accused of bilking Denver Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez, ex-Major League Baseball pitcher Roy Oswalt, and San Francisco Giants pitcher Jake Peavy, and other clients of millions of dollars in…
The Texas Court of Appeals for the Fifth District has upheld a $2.1M judgment for a client of Houston Securities Fraud Attorney Sam Edwards of Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas. The ruling ordered Morgan Keegan to pay $2.1M for not telling investors about the actual risks involved in a mortgage-backed…
Houston Pension Fund Accuses Bank of Fraud In the U.S. District Court Southern District of California, the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System has filed a securities fraud case against Bofl Holding (BOFI) Inc. The pension fund claims that the bank employed illegal lending practices and depended on off-balance-sheet entities to…
Texas Oil and Gas Ponzi Scam Leads to 13-Year Prison Term The owner of RHM Exploration has been sentenced to over 13 years months behind bars for a Texas oil and gas Ponzi scam that raised about $4.5M from investors. William Risinger must pay more than $3.7M to those whom…
Securities Case Brought Over Caspersen Fraud Shareholders of PJT Partners Inc. have brought a class action lawsuit against the publicly traded investment bank. The complaint comes in the awake of the arrest of Andrew Caspersen, who previously was one of the top officials at the bank’s Park Hill Group unit.…
Linn Energy (LINE) says that its unit holders have until April 25 to exchange their units for LinnCo shares. According to SeekingAlpha.com, the Texas-based company is making the deal to avoid CODI (cancellation of debt income). As it stands, Linn Energy has suspended its distribution and is making interest payments…
Galileo Trading to Pay Penalties and Restitution to Settle Commodity Futures Fraud Charges The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is filing fraud charges against Nathan Schleifer and his Galileo Trading LLC. Schleifer and his firm are accused of fraudulently soliciting customers to get them to trade commodity futures and for…
The Houston Municipal Employees Pension System is suing Internet banking company BofI Holding Inc. (BOFI). The pension fund claims that the bank engaged in unlawful lending practices and other misconduct to enhance profits. For example, according to the complaint, BofI Holdings refinanced a loan to a borrower involved in a…
Fort Worth-based investment adviser James Poe has been barred by the Texas State Securities Board from serving as a financial representative or broker in the state. According to the Board, Poe engaged in fraudulent sales practices involving life settlements.This is Texas securities fraud. The Texas adviser, who is the president…