Investor Fraud

Rogue Fidelity Investment Adviser’s Prison Sentence is Vacated Due to Improper Application of “Identity Theft Enhancement”

Published on: April 8, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit says that a district court improperly applied an “identity theft enhancement” when calculating the prison sentence of Bryan Hawes, a rogue investment adviser who had pled guilty to two counts of mail fraud. As a result, Judge Marjorie Rendell vacated Hawes’s 6 ½ year prison sentence and remanded for sentencing.

Hawes is the owner and president of Financial Management Advisory Services (FMAS) and Financial Management Services (FMS) Inc. He is also a registered investment adviser. He became an authorized representative for Fidelity Investment Advisors Group in 1997.

According to the court, Hawes defrauded his investment adviser clients. Rather than fulfill the agreements he made to buy annuities for them, he would either keep the money or buy annuities but later liquidate them for his personal use.

Two Brazilian Nationals Indicted For Alleged Involvement In $50 Million Telemarketing Scheme

Published on: April 3, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Two Brazilian nationals have been indicted on money laundering and other charges related to an alleged $50 million international penny stock scam that took money from many international investors.

The two defendants, Marcos Macchione and Rodrigo Molina, face charges of money laundering, conspiracy, and participating in illegal financial transactions. The two men reside in Florida and are being charged in connection with their involvement with the US part of the securities scam. A Florida jury handed out the indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Doron Mukamal, the alleged leader of the telemarketing securities scam, was also arrested. He lives in Brazil, as do his 17 partners, employees, associates, and money launderers that were also arrested.

Holston, Young, Parker & Associates Operator Pleads Guilty to $6.5 Million Forex Investor Scam

Published on: March 10, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Holston, Young, Parker & Associates Operator Boris Shuster has pled guilty to 14 counts of wire fraud and 13 counts of mail fraud in a foreign currency exchange scam that cost approximately $6.5 million and affected over 200 investors.

Shuster, also known as “Robert,” was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison and ordered to pay $6.432 million in restitution, a $10,000 fine, and $7.895 million in disgorgement. New York prosecutors had tried to obtain a sentence of 20 to 25 years in prison for Shuster. He had already been sentenced to five years in prison for a different forex scheme.

According to prosecutors, Holston, Young, Parker & Associates is a fraudulent forex firm. The other owners and employees have also pled guilty to criminal charges related to the scam.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Charges Argentine Investment Adviser With Defrauding Investors in $43.8 Million International Scam

Published on: January 28, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is charging Diego Mariano Rolando, an Argentine investment adviser, for his role in a $43.8 scheme that defrauded some 400 investors in the United States, South America, and Europe. Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut issued a restraining order to freeze his assets.

According to the CFTC, Rolando allegedly engaged in the following activities:

• Fraudulent trading of customer funds in options contracts and commodity futures.

Senior Vice President of Questar Capital (now Allianz Insurance) Claims He’s a Victim of Ponzi Scheme

Published on: January 3, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Questar Capital Corp’s senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions claims he too was victim of a $250 million alleged Ponzi scheme that affected up to 1,200 investors-many senior citizens residing in Michigan, California, Illinois, New York, Florida, New Jersey, and Ohio.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Edward May and E-M Management Co. LLC with selling bogus investments which involved shares in fake Las Vegas casino and resort telecom transactions. “Investment seminars” were held to persuade investors to buy shares. The investors were told they would receive monthly returns for the next 12-14 years.

It turns out that there were never any telecom contracts with any Las Vegas resorts, hotels, and casinos. Some of the hotels and casinos that supposedly had contracts were Motel 6, Hilton, Tropicana, MGM Grand, and Sheraton.

Former InterSecurities Brokers Investigated for Fraud

Published on: October 5, 2007 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Florida Office of Financial Regulation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are investigating Michael O. Traynor and his son, Matthew O. Traynor, former brokers at InterSecurities, Inc. Complaints from at least a dozen investors allege that the Traynors defrauded clients out of approximately $8 million.

In addition to an affiliation with InterSecurities, Inc., the Traynors are reported to have been affiliated with or operated under the firm names of Mariner Financial Services, Western Reserve Life, Association of Professional College Advisors, Inc., College Advisors Group, Inc., LifeTime Advisors, Inc. and LifeTime Advisors Group, Inc. Michael Traynor was licensed in securities and insurance and represented himself as a financial planner and certified college planning specialist.

According to reports, many of the investors were first in contact with the Traynors through their church and were lured to invested funds into accounts entitled “Freedom Bond Account,” “7 Day Freedom Money Market,” as well as “CGU Broker Services” and “Allianz Broker Services”. Apparently, statements on these accounts were falsified to indicate assets, income and profits which did not exist.

Highly Touted Whistleblower Protection Law Is Lost in the Wind

Published on: September 13, 2007 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Only a tiny fraction of whistleblower claims against companies have been successful since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley law five years ago, raising questions about the ability of employees to raise the alarm about corporate malfeasance, a study claims.

While corporate America whines almost daily about “burdens” placed by it by the so-called “Sorbox” legislation, the truth is that companies continue to defraud investors almost with impunity, while abusing any employee who might dare point a finger at them.

Sarbanes-Oxley contained new pro-whistleblower provisions when it was passed in 2002 in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scandals. Touted by some as a “revolution in corporate freedom of speech”, it was intended to strengthen the protections available to employees who bring to light cases of fraud by including strong “anti-retaliation” provisions.

Pump and Dump Scheme Involving Prime Time Stores Inc. Sends Global Spam Levels Up 30%

Published on: September 5, 2007 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In one of the largest online stock manipulation campaigns in history, spammers sent out some 500 million e-mails last month advising recipients to invest in Prime Time Stores Inc.

This prime example of “pump and dump” scamming involved spammers purchasing shares in a company, promoting it, and then waiting for share prices to rise before selling their stocks and making a profit. This particular pump and dump scheme caused the amount of spam sent around the globe to increase by 30% over a 24-hour period.

Prime Time Stores owns the exclusive licenses for 7-Eleven stores in the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. The company is also involved in automotive, gas, and oil activities. The spam e-mails promoting the company announced the opening of Prime Time Stores in Puerto Rico and said that a huge change in the stock would occur on August 8, 2007.

Business Optimism over SEC ‘Reforms’ – That is, to Dismantle Securities Regulations!

Published on: August 5, 2007 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Washington lawyer Peggy Blake, who recently joined Winston & Strawn as a corporate partner, reports her foreign financial services clients are “very optimistic” about the movement afoot at the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt a mutual recognition regime.

Yet, during recent trips to London and Geneva, she found a number of her foreign bank clients have some reservations about “how the whole thing will play out.” Blake advises clietns on application of U.S. securities laws to non-U.S. financial service providers. As part of her practice, she works with clients to design their compliance programs.

Her goal, along with those on Wall Street, in the White Houst and at the SEC, is to dismantle U.S. securities regulations governing corporations, their executives, securities firms, accounting firms and others.

Wrap fees? Beware of “investment professionals” who say they only charge a percent or two!

Published on: June 23, 2007 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In a letter to his Berkshire Hathaway shareholders entitled “How to Minimize Investment Returns,” Warren Buffett points out that between December 31, 1899 and December 31, 1999, the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497. That’s a 17,400% gain! Thus, a hundred dollars invested into a Dow portfolio during the 20th century would have grown to $17,500!

Yet, that’s an annual compound return over 100 years of only 5.3%, said Buffet while adding that, if only 1% per year is paid in management fees, nearly 20% of the profits would go to the money manager.

Building on Mr. Buffets warning: If a $100 investment was made the last day of 1899 and managed for 1%, it would COMPOUND at a net rate of only 4.3%. Thus, the portfolio would have grown to only $6,736 during the century that followed. The fee would have cost great-gramps over $10,000, leaving him with a little over one-third what he would have without “professional help”.