Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (“SSEK”) is pleased to announce that a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) arbitration panel has awarded an SSEK client a net of almost $9 million for his losses in Puerto Rico bonds and Puerto Rico Bond Funds. SSEK client, Dr. Luiz Romero Lopez, won…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is ordering Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments (PKS) to pay almost $3.4M in restitution to a Native American tribe. The tribe had paid excessive sales fees for the purchase of Business Development Companies (BDCs) and non-traded Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Gopi Vungarala was the Purshe…
Eight People Implicated in $39M Penny Stock Fraud Get Prison Sentences, Must Pay Restitution In Ohio, eight people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from almost two years to a dozen years for their involvement in a penny stock scam that caused investors to suffer $39M in losses. One of…
A 401(K) participant is suing Aon Hewitt for its purported involvement in a kickback scam involving Financial Engines. Aon Hewitt is not the first company to be subject to such allegations involving the 401(K) advice provider. According to a participant in the Caterpillar 401(k) Retirement Plan, the alleged “covert kickback…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is charging two brokers with securities fraud. The regulator claims that Donald J. Fowler and Gregory T. Dean fraudulently employed an in-and-out trading strategy that was not suitable for customers so that they could make more in commissions. Because of their actions, 27 customers…
IT Specialist Accused of Hacking Expedia Executives and Insider Trading The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil insider trading charges against Jonathan Ly, who worked as a technology specialist for online travel company Expedia. According to the regulator, Ly hacked senior company executives and traded on company secrets…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed promissory note fraud charges against Onix Capital and it owner Albert Chang-Rajii. The Miami-based asset management company and Chang are accused of bilking investors who put their money into promissory notes and start-ups, as well as of falsely portraying the Chilean national…
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 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has revived the lawsuit brought by a whistleblower who accused JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) of firing her for cautioning that a client might be engaging in money laundering and fraud. Jennifer Sharkey was a private wealth manager and vice president at the…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced that UBS Financial Services and its Puerto Rico subsidiary (UBS) must collectively pay three investors $750,000 in damages for losses they sustained from investing in UBS’s proprietary Puerto Rico closed-end bond funds and Puerto Rico bonds. The claimants are Jenny Robles Adorno, Desarrollos Jarra…