SEC Category Archives — Page 7 of 24 — Investor Lawyers Blog Published By Investment Fraud Attorneys

Securities Fraud: Ex-Broker Gets Prison Sentence for $1.2M Elder Financial Fraud, Massachusetts Man Admits to Bilking Neighbors, & More Than Two Dozen 27 Parties Under Fire Over Alleged Stock Promotion Scams

Published on: April 17, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former Wells Fargo and LPL Financial Broker Receives 41-Month Prison Term for Elder Financial Fraud
Robert N. Tricarico, an ex-broker for both Wells Fargo Advisors (WFC) and LPL Financial (LPLA), will serve 41 months behind bars and pay restitution of over $1.2M after he pleaded guilty to elder financial fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which brought a civil case against Tricarico, has barred him from the securities industry.

Court documents note that from 1/2010 to 6/2013, Tricarico was the financial adviser for a sick and elderly investor. He misappropriated over $1.1M from her by writing a number of checks to himself without the client’s consent, misappropriated checks written to her, liquidated her coin collection, and used her funds for his own expenses.

He has also admitted to bilking two other victims of $20K when he falsely represented that their money would go toward a business venture. He kept their money for himself.

SEC Uses Restraining Order Against Chicago-Based Investment Adviser, Alleges Massive Senior Fraud

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

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing investment adviser Daniel H. Glick and his unregistered firm, Financial Management Strategies, of bilking older investors of millions of dollars. The regulator issued a temporary restraining order against the Chicago-based investment adviser, as well as an emergency asset freeze.

According to the Commission, Glick and his firm gave false account statements to clients to conceal his use of their money, which included paying for his own personal and business expenses. He allegedly raised millions of dollars from older investors by saying he would do their taxes, pay their bills, and make investments for them. After investors would give Glick huge sums of money to invest, he either obtained power of attorney or took over control of their bank accounts.

In its complaint, the SEC stated claims that Glick not only took advantage of seniors who trusted him with their retirement funds but also he allegedly exploited these clients’ family members. Most of his investors, said the regulator, belonged to two distinct families.

Aegis Capital Under Investigation by FINRA, FINCEN and SEC

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

The US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network are investigating brokerage firm Aegis Capital Corp. The reason for the probe has not been disclosed.

In Aegis Capital’s latest audited financial statement, the firm said that it has responded to the joint inquiry. A lawyer for the broker-dealer said that it would not comment further. The attorney, however, did note that regulators have yet to file a complaint and that Aegis Capital is not in litigation at the moment with any of these agencies.

According to Aegis Capital’s BrokerCheck profile, the firm has 27 previous disclosures, including one in 2015 that the broker-dealer settled with FINRA, agreeing to pay $950K over the allegedly improper sales of billions of unregistered penny stock shares and purported lapses in anti-money-laundering supervision. Two ex-Aegis Capital chief compliance officers were suspended and ordered to pay related fines.

Securities Cases: Broidy Wealth Management Advisors Founder Pleads Guilty to Fraud, Bondholders File Arbitration Claim Against BOK Financial, and SEC Files Complaint in $5M Pyramid Scam

Published on: February 26, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

RIA Misappropriated Over $865K and Withdrew $640K in Excess Fees, Say Prosecutors
Broidy Wealth Advisors CEO Mark Broidy has pleaded guilty to taking $640K in excess management fees from clients and misappropriating over $864K in stock that were in trusts of which he was the trustee. Now, the registered investment advisor must make restitutions to those whom he defrauded. He could end up serving up to five years behind barsamong other penalties.

According to the Justice Department, from around 11/2010 to 7/2016 Broidy billed more than what he was allowed to in compensation, which caused three clients to pay more than $640K in excess fees. He concealed his theft by falsifying those clients’ IRS Form 1099s.

After one client demanded that Broidy pay back the stolen funds the latter allegedly sold over $865K of stock from another client’s trust accounts, which were for that person’s children. Broidy also suggested that several clients invest in startups with which he had deals to pay him part of any money he raised on the companies’ behalf. The clients didn’t know about these arrangements.

SEC Cases: Man Who Claimed to Be Real Estate Manager to Pay over $500K and Fuel Cell Company Executives Face Criminal and Civil Charges Over Investor Fraud

Published on: February 17, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Arizona Man to Pay $500K To Settle SEC Fraud Charges
James P. Toner will pay over $500K to settle charges accusing him of taking investors’ money. The Arizona man claimed to be a real estate manager and allegedly told investors that he would be personally managing three real estate ventures in which they were buying interests. The stated purpose of every investor’s offering was to buy a residential property in the Phoenix area. The property was to be renovated and then sold at a profit.

According to the SEC’s securities fraud complaint, Toner raised at least $915K from 18 investors from mid-’13 through ’14. The investors lost about $682K. Toner is accused of misappropriating about $51K of investor money that he purportedly tried to hide through bank account transfers. (The regulator’s complaint stated that Toner was paid $31K in undisclosed management fees even though he never actually managed the offerings, and that he flat-out stole $20K from an investor.)

Toner also purportedly did not perform any due diligence when he entrusted a real estate broker to manage the investments. This broker was later sent to jail for other crimes.

SEC Charges Connecticut RIA with $3.95M Fraud, Ex-Morgan Stanley Financial Adviser with $5M Securities Scam

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

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against Sentinel Growth Fund Management and its owner Mark J. Varacchi. The regulator is accusing the Connecticut-based investment advisory firm of stealing at least $3.95M from investors. Over $1M was allegedly used to resolve private litigation in which Varacchi was the defendant.

According to the Commission, Sentinel Growth Management Fund and Varacchi misrepresented to investors that their money would go to hedge fund managers to be invested. Instead, the investment advisor firm allegedly commingled investor money and manipulated account balances, activities, and investment returns as part of a securities fraud.

Now, the SEC wants disgorgement and penalties brought against Varacchi and his firm in this investment advisor fraud case.

Criminal Cases: Hedge Fund Manager is Sentenced for Bilking Veterans of $1.8M, Charges Brought Over $81M Ponzi Scam Involving Hamilton Tickets, and Indictment in $17M Ponzi Scam is Dropped

Published on: January 30, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Chicago Hedge Fund Manager Gets Over Four Years in $1.8M Fraud
Clayton Cohn is sentenced to more than four years behind bars and he will pay $1.55M in restitution for targeting military veterans in a $1.8M hedge fund fraud. Cohn is an ex-US Marine. He pleaded guilty to the criminal charges against him.

Cohn is accused of pretending to be a successful hedge fund manager to persuade clients to invest with his Marketaction Capital Management. Of the over $1.8M that was invested,he lost more than $1.5M and spent at least $400K on his luxury lifestyle and business investments.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission had brought civil charges against him in 2013 when they accused Cohn of soliciting investors through his Veterans Financial Education Network. The non-profit was supposed to help veterans handle their money. Instead, he diverted some of their funds toward himself. The regulator stayed its case against him following the federal indictments. Now, the civil fraud charges will proceed.

SEC Cases: Citigroup to Pay $18.3M for Overbilling Clients, Strategic Capital Management is Banned Following $1.3M Cherry Picking Scam, & 10 Investment Advisory Firms Settle Pay-to-Play Violation Charges Involving Pension Fund Fees

Published on: January 27, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Citigroup is Accused of Overcharging At Least 60 Investment Advisory Clients
Citigroup Global Markets (C) will pay $18.3M to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing the firm of overbilling clients and misplacing client contracts. According to the regulator’s order, at least 60,000 investment advisory clients were overcharged about $18M in unauthorized fees because Citigroup did not confirm the accuracy of the billing rates in its computer systems compared to the fees noted in client contracts and other documents. The firm also purportedly improperly collected fees even when clients suspended their accounts. The SEC says that the billing mistakes took place over a 15-year period.

The regulator also contends that the investment advisory firm has been unable to locate about 83,000 advisory contracts. Their absence made it impossible for Citigroup to correctly validate whether the fees that clients were billed are the same ones that they negotiated.

The SEC believes that affected clients paid Citigroup about $3.2M in excess fees.

Windsor Street Capital Charged in Connection with Pump-and-Dump Scam

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

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an administrative case against Windsor Street Capital and John D. Telfer, its ex-anti-money laundering officer. The regulator’s enforcement division claims that the New York-based broker dealer did not file Suspicious Activity Reports for $24.8M of suspect transactions, including those connected to an alleged pump-and-dump scam.

The regulator claims that Windsor Street Capital, at the time known as Meyers Associates LP, and Telfer should have been aware of the suspect circumstances involving a lot of these transactions and conducted a probe—in particular, into transactions involving William Goode and Raymond Barton. These men are microcap stock financiers accused of running a multi-million dollar pump-and=dump scam.

The SEC has filed separate charges against them, as well as against Kenneth Manzo, Matthew Briggs, and Justin Sindelman. The five of them are accused of acquiring shares of dormant shell companies that were supposed to be part of the dietary supplement industry, falsely marketing products and news related to the company, and then dumping the shares onto the market for investors to buy at inflated rates.

SEC Cases: Morgan Stanley to Pay $13M for Custody Rule Violations and Overbilling Clients, BNY Mellon to Settles Allegations of Reported Miscalculations By Paying $6.6M, and Citadel Securities to Pay $22M for Purportedly Misleading Clients About Pricing Trades

Published on: January 17, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Morgan Stanley Accused of Overbilling Investment Advisory Clients

The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MS) will pay a $13M penalty to resolve charges accusing the firm of overbilling clients through billing system and coding mistakes and violating the custody rule regarding yearly surprise exams.

As a result, said the regulator’s order, Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay over $16M in excess fees because of billing mistakes that took place from ’02 to ’16. Investment advisory clients that were affected have been paid back the excess fees in addition to interest.

According to the Commission, Morgan Stanley overcharged over 149,000 investment advisory clients. The reason for this is that the firm did not put into place compliance policies and procedures that were designed reasonably enough to make sure that clients were accurately billed according to their advisory agreements. The SEC said that Morgan Stanley did not validate billing rates that were in its billing system against client billing histories, contracts, and other documents.