Ponzi Scams

Thema International Reaches $687M Settlement Over Madoff Ponzi Scam

Published on: September 8, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC trustee Irving H. Picard announced that a settlement has been reached for $687M with Thema International Fund for its ties to the multibillion-dollar Madoff Ponzi Scam. Now, a court must approve the agreement.

According to Bloomberg, the “Irish investment fund funneled $1.1B” to the Ponzi scam that bilked thousands of investors, including those who were with offshore feeder funds, of billions of dollars over several decades. The $687M is representative of all the funds transferred from Madoff’s securities firm to Thema International prior to the former’s collapse, in addition to 19.26% of the withdrawals beyond that time period.

Thema International Fund belongs to a number of offshore entities with ties to Madoff friend and Austrian banker Sonja Kohn and the Benbasset family of Switzerland. Picard contends that Kohn and the Benbassets granted Madoff key access to funds as his Ponzi scam began to fail.

NJ Investment Adviser Allegedly Used Investor Funds to Pay Gambling Bills, Radio Host is Accused of Bilking Investors of Over $5M in Ticket Resale Scheme, & Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Felony Charges

Published on: September 6, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

NJ Investment Adviser Accused of Stealing Over $1M from Clients
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has brought investment adviser fraud charges against Scott Newsholme, a New Jersey-based financial adviser and tax preparer, accusing him of stealing over $1M from clients so he could support his lifestyle and support his gambling. According to the regulator, Newsholme generated fake account statements and “doctored stock certificates and forged promissory notes.”

Prosecutors have filed a parallel criminal case against him. Rather than invest clients’ funds in different securities as promised, Newsholme allegedly went to a check-cashing store to cash their checks and then kept their money for himself to cover his own expenses and gambling activities, as well as make Ponzi-like payments to the clients who wanted their money back.

Radio Host Accused of Stealing Millions of Dollars in Concert Ticket Scheme
Craig Carton, a sports radio host, is accused of running a concert ticket scam to bilk investors. According to the SEC’s complaint, he and Joseph Meli, another man whom the regulator had already filed charges against earlier this year, touted blocks of face value tickets to concert performances that were in demand and promised investors high returns that would come from ticket resales and their accompanying price markups.

Ex-Financial Adviser Dawn Bennett Faces SEC and Criminal Charges Over Alleged $20M Investor Fraud

Published on: August 28, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against ex-financial adviser Dawn Bennett accusing her of bilking investors, making Ponzi-like payments, and spending clients’ funds on herself. According to the regulator, Bennett and her DJB Holdings LLC raised over $200M through the sale of notes issued to at least 46 investors by the luxury sports apparel company. Many of her victims were unsophisticated and older investors.

During the sales, Bennett allegedly claimed that the notes were safer than they actually were, as well as that her firm could pay yearly returns of up to 15%. Investors were purportedly told that their money would go toward company use but instead she paid back earlier investors in a Ponzi-like manner and used some of the funds to pay for her expenses. Meantime, contends the SEC’s complaint, Bennett hid the alleged fraud, lied to regulators, used sham promissory notes instead of actual convertible notes, and inflated her net worth.

Now, the Commission has charged Bennett and her company with violations of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The regulator wants disgorgement, interest, and penalties for the alleged senior financial fraud.

Securities Fraud: Ponzi Scammer Tim Duncan Must Pay $1. 3M, Former ArthroCare CEO is Convicted Again in $750M Scheme, & Former Summit Wealth Management CEO is Sentenced to Eight Years

Published on: August 25, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Federal Judge Orders Tim Durham to Pay $1. 3M in Securities Fraud Case

Five years after he was convicted of securities fraud, businessman Tim Durham has been ordered by a federal judge to pay $1.3M in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil case against him. Durham bilked over 5,000 investors in his Ponzi Scam involving his company Fair Finance. He is serving 50 years behind bars.

The Commission had wanted the judge to order Durham to pay back over $200M in ill-gotten gains. Instead, Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson ordered him to pay a $130K penalty for each criminal conviction, of which there were 10. After Fair Finance shut down in 2009, its bankruptcy trustee repaid investors $18M.

Ex-ArthroCare CEO is Convicted in $750M Scam For a Second Time
Michael Baker, the ex-CEO of ArthroCare Corp., has been convicted once again in a $750M securities fraud. An earlier conviction for the same scheme was vacated last year by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Martin Shkreli is Convicted of Securities Fraud

Published on: August 7, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A jury has found former pharmaceutical CEO and hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli guilty of securities fraud in connection with his two hedge funds, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, as well as of conspiracy to commit securities fraud involving shares of the drug company Retrophin, which he founded.

Prosecutors had said that Shkreli misled investors, losing their money on bad stock picks while scheming to try recover millions of dollars of these losses. At one point, Shkreli claimed he had $40M in one hedge fund when it had only $300 in the bank.

That said, prosecutors experienced some challenges in proving their criminal case against the ex-hedge fund manager. For example, during the trial, a number of rich Texan financiers admitted that Shkreli’s scam made them money, sometimes even double or triple of what they invested, when Retrophin’s stock went public.

Securities Fraud: Ex-Gerova Financial Head is Sentenced to Six Years, Black Elk Claims Reinsurer Aided Platinum Fund Scam, and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Is Accused of Spoofing

Published on: August 4, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Gerova Financial Group Head is Sentenced in $72M Fraud

Gary Hirst, the former president of Gerova Financial Group who was convicted of securities fraud and wire fraud last year, has been sentenced to six years behind bars. Hirst defrauded Gerova shareholders when he secretly gave away almost $72M of company stock to co-conspirators and himself.

He and his co-conspirators are accused of issuing huge quantities of stock and bilking stockholders and the investing public in order to earn millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains. Hirst and one of the co-conspirators, Jason Galanis, had gained enough control of Gerova that they could engage in transactions to enrich themselves and others even as they worked to conceal the scam.

Massachusetts Files Criminal Charges Against Charges Hedge Fund Manager Over Multi-Million Dollar Ponzi-Like Scam

Published on: August 2, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Prosecutors in Massachusetts have filed charges against hedge fund manager Raymond Montoya for allegedly bilking investors of millions of dollars in a Ponzi-like scam. The criminal charges against him include wire fraud and mail fraud, and they come two months after state regulators brought their own charges against him.

Montoya ran the hedge fund RMA Strategic Opportunity Fund LLC. He is accused of misusing millions of dollars of investors’ funds to pay back earlier investors, as well as to pay for his son’s mortgage along with luxury items and expenses. The criminal complaint stated that Montoya told investors that RMA held about $4B in assets under management and employed proprietary software to predict stock price changes.

In reality, contend prosecutors, the hedge fund manager oversaw less than $100M and invested just part of victim’s funds.

Financier Who Bilked Family and Friends of $23M Investment Fraud Gets Three Years in Prison

Published on: July 15, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Haena Park, the Harvard-educated financier who pleaded guilty to the commodities fraud that bilked over 40 investors of more than $23M, is sentenced to three years in prison. Park defrauded friends and family over six years, beginning in 2008, by soliciting investments in different commodities and securities, including equities, futures, and forex transactions.

Even after she lost investors’ money, Park continued to solicit new investors, claiming up to 50% yearly returns and generating false monthly statements that concealed the large losses. Among her victims were immigrants who worked multiple jobs, older investors who saw their life savings disappear, and a paraplegic who suffered $4M in investment losses.

After Park pleaded guilty early this year, then-US Attorney Preet Bharara said that Park was not just admitting to the fraud, but also acknowledging that she lied about her trading expertise, as well as return rates, to draw in investors.

Judge Rules That Aequitas Investors’ Securities Fraud Lawsuit Against TD Ameritrade and Others May Proceed

Published on: July 8, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In Oregon, a district court judge has refused to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit accusing TD Ameritrade (AMTD), Integrity Bank & Trust, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Eisner Amper LP, and law firms Tonkon Torp and Sidley Austin of playing a part in the alleged securities fraud committed by Aequitas Management LLC, which is now defunct.

Over 1500 investors entrusted over $350M to Aequitas. They each invested amounts ranging from about $60K to over $1M in Aequitas funds, including the Aequitas Income Opportunity Fund II LLC that they now claim was a Ponzi scam.

Last year, in its civil securities case, the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused the Oregon-based investment group and three of its executives of concealing the firm’s financial woes while still raising millions of dollars. Investors thought they were backing investments involving transportation, education, and healthcare when their funds were allegedly being used to save Aequitas. Meantime, newer investors’ funds were also used to pay earlier investors in a Ponzi-like scam.
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SEC Cases: Real Estate Agent Accused in Ponzi Scam, Oil Company Charged in $2.4M Offering Fraud, and NY Private Equity Fund Adviser Resolves Negligence Claims

Published on: July 5, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Oil Well Company and Founders Accused In $2.4M Offering Fraud
The SEC has filed offering fraud-related charges against Kentucky-Tennessee 50 Wells/400 BBLPD Block, Limited Partnership, its founders, and three members of its sales team over a $2.4M offering fraud. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s complaint, the oil well company fraudulently offered and sold unregistered securities to investors through a boiler room operation. They raised about $2.4M from 41 investors.

Carol J. Wayland and her son John C. Mueller founded K-T 50 Wells. They are accused of misappropriating investor funds for purposes not disclosed in the private placement memorandum, including taking more than $871K for their own expenses and making Ponzi payments to some investors.

Real Estate Agent Allegedly Sold Unregistered Securities as Part of Brother’s Ponzi Scam
Cheryl L. Jones is accused of defrauding investors by helping her brother, Mark Jones, recruit investors for his Ponzi scam. The Commission contends that Jones brought in associates and friends to buy unregistered promissory notes and personal guarantees that her brother was involved in.