SEC Category Archives — Page 10 of 24 — Investor Lawyers Blog Published By Investment Fraud Attorneys

SEC Fines Texas-Based Investment Advisory Firm for Overcharging REIT Clients

Published on: July 5, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is ordering WFG Advisors to pay a $100K penalty for charging clients too much on their investments business development companies and real estate investment trusts. The Dallas-based firm is the registered investment advisory arm of Williams Finance Group.

According to the regulator, the purported overcharges took place from 1/11 through 8/13. The SEC claims that WFG Advisors had policies and procedures that were inadequate, which kept it from identifying and stopping incidents of overcharging. Because of these inadequacies, including what the regulator considered a lack of technological capabilities, 35 accounts were collectively overcharged $34,640.63 in advisory fees.

The Commission said client’s in the firm’s wrap account program were told that they would be charged a commission to buy alternative investment product interests, including interests in BDCs and REITs. However, there wasn’t supposed to be an advisory fee. Instead, said the Commission, WFG Advisors charged both a commission and an advisory fee. (Forms submitted to the regulator included false statements saying that wrap program participants would not have to pay commissions for transactions that took place in their accounts.)

Morgan Stanley and E*Trade Securities Face Penalties for Inadequate Customer Information Protection

Published on: June 8, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission says that Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (MS) will pay a $1M penalty to resolve charges involving its purported failure to protect customer data. Some of this information was hacked and violators attempted to sell the data online.

According to the regulator, the firm did not put into place written policies and procedures that were designed in a manner reasonable enough to protect customer information. Because of this, said the SEC, from ’11 to ’14, former Morgan Stanley employee Galen J. Marsh was able to access without permission information regarding approximately 730,000 accounts and move them to his own server. This made it possible for third parties to access and hack the information from there.

The Commission said that Morgan Stanley had two internal portals that made it possible for employees such as Marsh to access confidential customer account information and it was for these internal applications that the firm lacked the needed authorization modules that would have restricted which employees could see this information. This deficiency existed for over a decade.

It was just last week that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said that it was censuring and fining E*Trade Securities LLC for supervisory violations related to customer order information protection and for not performing sufficient review of the quality of customer order executions. As a firm that offers online services for securities investing and trading to retail customers, E*Trade is supposed to evaluate the competing markets that it routes customer orders to, including exchange and non-exchange market centers. Firms such as E*Trade are also supposed to conduct periodic and stringent reviews of the quality of customer order executions to see if there are any differences among the markets, which is why the firm set up a Best Execution Committee to do this job.

SEC & Fraud Cases: Ponzi Scam Targeting Middle Class Investors is Stopped, NY-Based Forex Trader is Accused of Bilking Ex-Classmates, Family, and Friends, and NC Investment Adviser is Sued Over $11.5M Real Estate-Related Scheme

Published on: June 4, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

SEC Stops Ponzi Scam Involving Pre-IPO Stocks and Middle Class Investors
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Jaswant Gill and Javier Rios with fraud. The regulator claims that the two men and their investment firm, JSG Capital Investments, targeted middle-class investors through a Ponzi scam in which they touted purportedly huge returns through pro-IPO stock in renowned companies such as Airbnb, Alibaba, and Uber.

Gill and Rios are accused of pocketing at least $2.8M in investor money for their own lavish spending instead of investing the money in the pre-IPO shares. Funds of new investors were used to pay “returns” to earlier investors.

Gill allegedly touted fake credentials. He, Rios, and their firm are not registered with the Commission or with a state regulator.

The SEC said that in total the two investment advisers raised $10M through their company and related entities. They are said to have promised these retail investors access to investment opportunities that were typically only available to “one-percenters.” They also guaranteed yearly returns as high as 60%.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California has filed a parallel criminal case against Rios and Gill.

Trader Accused of Bilking Friends and Family of Millions of Dollars
The SEC is suing Haena Park for allegedly defrauding friends, her ex-Harvard classmates, family members, and other individuals of millions of dollars. Park is accused of using investor funds and making misrepresentations about her investment history, as well about the profits the investments were supposed to have made.

Since 2012, Park has raised at least $14M from over 30 investors, sustaining $16M in trading losses in the process.

SEC Files Fraud Charges in Native American Tribal Bonds Scam

Published on: May 13, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is charging John Galanis, his son Jason Galanis, and five other people with fraud involving a multimillion-dollar tribal bonds scam. The SEC claims that Jason ran the scheme to obtain a “source of discretionary liquidity.”

He and his father allegedly persuaded a Native American tribal corporation affiliated with the Wakpamni District of the Oglala Sioux Nation to put out limited recourse bonds that the two of them had structured. Jason then acquired two investment advisory firms and appointed officers to coordinate the purchase of $32 million in bonds. He used client money to purchase the bonds.

Investors were told that the bond proceeds would be invested in annuities to make enough money to pay back bondholders and to benefit the tribal corporation. Instead, the money went to a bank account owned by a company that Jason and his associates controlled. The funds were allegedly misappropriated to make luxury purchases and to pay lawyers representing Jason and his dad in a criminal case involving unrelated stock fraud charges.

The SEC wants disgorgement, interest, penalties, and permanent injunctions. Also named in the complaint are Devon Archer, Bevan Cooney, Hugh Dukerley, Gary Hirst, and Michelle Morton. They face charges of violating federal securities laws’ antifraud provisions and other rules.

NY City Council Speaker Wants SEC to Investigate Oppenheimer Funds Over Puerto Rico Debt Crisis

Published on: May 9, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to InvestmentNews, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is asking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to conduct a probe into OppenheimerFunds, Inc. (“OPY”) and its impact on Puerto Rico’s financial woes. Speaker Mark-Viverito believes that the asset-management company played a part in making Puerto Rico’s financial crisis worse by investing even more in the island’s debt. She claims that just in the last eight months, OppenheimerFunds has added $500 million to investments it made in Puerto Rican debt.

Right now, the U.S. territory owes over $70 billion in debt, which it is struggling to pay. It recently defaulted on over $370 million of a bond payment that was due this month. Another $2 billion is due in July, including around $700 million in general obligation debt.

To satisfy investor redemptions, OppenheimerFunds has sold its non-Puerto Rico bonds, which would have raised the current allocation of the asset manager’s funds to the Commonwealth. In a letter to the SEC, Mark-Viverito, who was born in Puerto Rico, urged the agency to look into whether Oppenheimer has complied with all regulations and securities laws when handling its Puerto Rican bond investments. She believes banks, hedge funds, and other investors in the territory’s general-obligation bonds and utility debt are to blame for the island’s financial woes.

Nine Brokers Charged in $131M Stock Scam

Published on: May 4, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Nine financial professionals are charged with scamming investors in a $131M financial fraud involving Forcefield Energy Inc. According to authorities, from 12/09 to 4/15 the defendants, which include brokers, stock promoters, and investor relations officials, manipulated the LED lighting provider’s stock by trading it in secret, using undisclosed accounts, hiding kickbacks that were paid to brokers and stock promoters to tout the stock, and inflating the volume of trades to make it seem as if there was a real demand for the stock. Also this week the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges against the nine defendants and former ForceField executive chairman Richard St. Julien who was arrested last year on charges accusing him of running scams to inflate his company’s stock price.

Speaking about the criminal case, U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said that the defendants took a business that didn’t have much revenue and “essentially no business” and fooled their clients and the market into thinking that it was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The nine defendant are charged with securities fraud, and conspiracies to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering. They are former Stratton Oakmont Inc. broker Christopher Castaldo, unregistered broker Louis F. Petrossi, Mitchell & Sullivan Capital LLC managing partner of investor relations Jared Mitchell, registered representatives Richard L. Brown, Naveed A. Khan, Gerald J. Cocuzzo, Maroof Miyana, and Pranav V. Patel, and Kenai Capital Management LLC head Herschel Knippa III.

Four Face SEC Charges in Florida Elder Abuse Scam Involving Free Dinners

Published on: April 4, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is charging four men with fraud. The regulator claims that Joseph Andrew Paul, James S. Quay, John D. Ellis, Jr., and Donald H. Ellison sought to bilk investors, including seniors, by promising them lucrative returns for their money.

The SEC contends that Ellis and Paul lied about their investment advisory firm’s performance record, generated fraudulent marketing collateral that included performance figures from the website of another firm, and recruited Quay and Ellison to be part of the scheme. The latter two then purportedly used the fraudulent materials to deceive investors who answered a mass mailing that offered a free dinner at a restaurant in Florida. Quay, who previously was found liable for securities fraud and convicted of tax fraud, allegedly used the name “Stephen Jameson” as an alias to hide his real identity. The SEC said that Jameson was not a registered investment professional when the allegedly fraudulent behavior took place, nor was Ellison for most of that time.

“Free Lunch” Seminars
The Commission has warned more than once that when it comes to investment seminars there is no such thing as a “free lunch.” While you, as the attendee, may not have to pay for the food, these seminars are educational programs and investment workshops geared toward getting you to buy an investment product that a host or an affiliate is touting.

While there are plenty of legitimate investment seminars, there are those that have purposely been set up to bilk prospective attendees. At such gatherings there may be fake products sold, misrepresentations about risks and returns made, conflicts of interest related to the products for sale and the information provided, and advertising collateral that is misleading or inaccurate. Unfortunately, older investors continue to be a favorite target of financial scammers.

At Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD LLP, our elder financial fraud lawyers are here to work with investors to get their money back.

Unregistered Investment Adviser Accused of $53M Ponzi Scam Involving Pre-IPO Companies

Published on: March 29, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

New Jersey adviser John Bivona is facing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing him of raising over $53M from investors in a Ponzi-like scam that involved the selling of investments in pre-IPO tech companies. However, contends the SEC, instead of investing the funds as intended, he used investor money to pay taxes, legal fees, a car loan, a vacation house mortgages, and cover his nephew’s credit card bills.

The regulator, in its complaint, said Bivona funneled millions of dollars into earlier funds that he and his company managed, while at least $5.7M went to family members, including nephew Frank Mazzola, who also is dealing with SEC charges for a previous investment scam.

The Commission alleges that Bivona raised the money through Saddle River Advisors, which has not registered with the regulator since 2013, and SRA Management. Because he purportedly took the money for his own spending, to pay family bills, and keep different funds running, his firms often never had enough money to buy the shares investors had been promised.

The SEC believes that Bivona was able to keep his Ponzi scam going because he kept transferring funds between over a dozen bank accounts associated with a number of entities. Meantime, investors never received financial statements they were promised.

In its press release announcing the charges, the SEC linked to one of its bulletins that identifies the possible warnings signs that the unregistered offering you are thinking of investing in may be a scam. The Commission noted that unregistered securities are

SEC Cases: Ex-AIG Broker-Dealers to Pay $9.5M For Purportedly Directing Investors Toward Pricier Mutual Funds, California Water District Resolves Bond Offering Charges for $125M, & Businessman is Accused of Stealing Investor Money

Published on: March 14, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former AIG Affiliate Brokerage Firms to Pay $7.5M Fine, $2M Restitution Over High-Priced Mutual Funds
Royal Alliance Associates, FSC Securities Corp., and SagePoint Financial have agreed to pay over $9.5M to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing them of guiding clients toward expensive mutual fund share classes so that the firms could garner additional fees. The brokerage firms were formerly under the AIG Advisor Group umbrella.

According to the regulator, the firms put clients in share classes that charged 12b-1 fees for distribution and marketing even though they were eligible to purchase shares that didn’t come with these added fees.

Because of the placement in the costlier fund classes, the firms collected an additional $2M in fees and did not disclose their conflict of interest in choosing the share classes that would make them more money.

The AIG affiliates are accused of not monitoring advisory accounts quarterly to make sure that churning didn’t take place. The SEC order is claiming breach of fiduciary duty and numerous compliance failures.

California Businessman Allegedly Stole Investor Money, Covered Up Fraud
Daniel R. Nase is accused of stealing investor assets and then trying to conceal the theft once the SEC discovered his scam. The regulator claims that the California businessman raised funds from investors via an unregistered offing of common stock in his Bic Real Estate Development Corp. He then used the funds to cover his own bills.

The Commission said that Nase, who was not registered with any state regulator or the SEC to sell investments, told investors that his company would invest in promissory notes and real estate. Instead, he improperly placed those under his name, his wife’s name, of the name of their family trust. He allegedly tried to hide his fraud by investing the assets that he stole back into BIC to make it look like he was raising his equity stake in the company.

California Water District Accused of Misleading Investors in $77M Bond Offering
The SEC is charging Westlands Water District with misleading investors about its financial state while issuing a $77M bond offering. The agricultural water district is the largest one in the state of California.

According to the SEC, Westland, in prior bond offerings, consented to keep a 1.25 debt service coverage ratio but discovered in 2010 that a lower water supply and drought conditions would keep it from making enough money to keep up that ratio, which measures an issuer’s ability to make future bond payments. To meet the ratio without upping customer rates, Westlands reclassified the funds.
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SEC Bars Former Investment Adviser Over Alleged Misuse of Exchange-Traded Funds

Published on: March 3, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is barring Nicholas Rowe, the former owner of registered investment advisor Focus Capital Wealth Management, from the industry. The charges come in the wake of parallel proceedings in New Hampshire where state regulators barred him from being licensed as an investment adviser. The New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation also said he had to pay $20K.

Rowe and his RIA are accused of using inverse and leveraged exchange-traded funds in a way that was not suitable for clients. They also purportedly made misrepresentations regarding the fees that the clients would be charged.

Focus Capital had been registered with the SEC until 2012 when it registered with New Hampshire instead. The state launched a probe into the RIA’s investment practices, which allegedly included placing the assets of older investors into unsuitable strategies without notifying them that was what was happening. A number of elderly clients, including three widows, allegedly lost close to $1.M.