Securities Fraud

SSEK Securities Lawyers Continue to Fight For Investors

Published on: December 7, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Our Seasoned Securities Lawyers Continue to Fight For GWG L Bond Investors

Resignations of GWG Holdings CEO and CFO Are Latest Upset To Hit Beleaguered Alternative Asset Firm

GWG Holdings, Inc. CEO/President Murray T. Holland and CFO/Treasurer Timothy L. Evans recently resigned as the company’s executives. The two men stepped down in mid-November 2022 after an internal review found that other ex-board members’ worries about one investment were allegedly disregarded. Holland and Evans, however, remain on the alternative asset firm’s board.

Investor Losses Involving Complete Business Solutions Group (Par Funding)

Published on: November 22, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

$500M of This Risky Private Placement Investment May Have Been Sold By Brokerage Firms

More than two years after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had filed an emergency action against Complete Business Solutions (d/b/a Par Funding), many of those who collectively invested up to $500M in its alternative investment offerings are still grappling with how to recover their investor losses.

The Broker Misconduct Lawyer teams of Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (investorlawyers.com) are speaking with these investors, many of whom may have been unsuitably sold these risky unregistered securities by brokers. If this is the case for you, then you may have grounds for filing a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) lawsuit against your broker-dealer for damages.

SSEK Law Firm Investigates National Realty Investment Advisors Over Alleged $630M Investor Fraud

Published on: July 4, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

New Jersey Accuses Real Estate Development Company of Defrauding 1,800 Investors

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) is investigating claims of losses by 1,800 investors. These investors may have been fraudulently sold at least $630M in securities by National Realty Investment Advisors (NRIA) between 2018 and 2022. The New Jersey-based real estate development company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 8, 2022.

An affidavit filed in US bankruptcy court notes about $600M in claims against approximately $300M of assets. On June 21, 2022, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities ordered NRIA to stop operations and accused the company of fraudulent investment sales. Investors were purportedly fraudulently sold units in the NRIA Fund. The minimum investment that investors could make was $100K.

Customer of Morgan Stanley Broker Thomas Bonds Files $5M Unsuitability Case

Published on: May 27, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Morgan Stanley Broker Thomas Bonds Has Three Investor Claims That Resulted in Settlements

Our broker misconduct attorneys are investigating claims of losses involving current and former customers of Morgan Stanley broker Thomas Craig Bonds. According to his BrokerCheck record, the Kirkland, WA financial advisor has one pending customer dispute. In the investor’s FINRA arbitration claim, the claimant seeks $5M in damages and alleges unsuitability related to how the broker managed their account from April 2015 to September 2021.

Unsuitability generally alleges that actions were taken by the financial advisor that were not a suitable fit for the investor given several factors, including:

Ex-NPB Financial Group Broker Neal Nakagiri is Facing More Than $700K in Customer Disputes

Published on: May 24, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-NPB Financial Group Advisor Has Six Disputes On BrokerCheck Record

If you suffered losses while working with former NPB Financial Group registered representative Neal Edwin Nakagiri, you might have grounds for a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim to pursue damages from the firm. Nakagiri, who has worked for four decades in the industry, has been named in at least six customer complaints.

According to his LinkedIn, Nakagiri is President and managing owner of NPB Financial Group. He was also a registered broker and investment advisor with the firm from 2006 until March 2022.

SSEK Law Firm Investigates Financial Gravity Family Office Services Adviser Mark Williams in Carmel, CA Over Possible GWG L Bond Sales

Published on: May 18, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Centaurus Financial Broker May Have Unsuitably Sold Risky Junk Bonds to Elderly Investors

Our GWG Holdings L Bond lawyers are looking into claims of L Bond losses by former customers of Mark John Williams, an ex-Centaurus Financial broker. Williams is currently a Kingswood Capital Partners stockbroker and Financial Gravity Family Office Services investment advisor out of Carmel By The Sea, California.

Several of his former customers, including elderly investors and retirees, have complained that he allegedly recommended and sold them GWG L Bonds. These high-yield bonds were too risky, illiquid, and speculative for these investors from the beginning. These contentions appear to be from when he was registered with Centaurus Financial and after with Forta Financial Group.

Emerson Equity Broker Tony Barouti Facing $1.37M in GWG L Bond Claims

Published on: May 16, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Los Angeles-Based Financial Advisor Allegedly Targeted Customers of Iranian Heritage

In an earlier GWG L Bond blog post, our securities attorneys reported we were looking into whether customers of Emerson Equity broker Tony Barouti had suffered losses in these high-yield bonds. In March 2022, investors filed two investor claims seeking $1.37M in damages.

Brokerage firm Emerson Equity is the managing broker-dealer for the GWG issuer of $1.6B of L bonds, backed by life settlements. On April 20, 2022, GWG Holdings, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move came just two months after the Texas-based alternative asset firm defaulted on $13.6M in bond payments and interest it owed L Bond investors.

FINRA Fines Berthel Fisher $100K Over Options Trades

Published on: May 11, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Berthel Fisher & Co Accused of Supervisory and Compliance Issues Involving a Customer

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that Berthel Fisher & Co. had been ordered to pay a $100K fine. This fine concerns shortcomings related to compliance involving options trades in a customer’s account. The firm is not denying or admitting to the self-regulatory organization’s (SRO) findings.

According to FINRA, in August 2015, while looking over a customer’s request for approval to trade options in his account, Berthel Fisher & Co neglected to conduct due diligence. The broker-dealer failed to ensure that this type of transaction was suitable based on the client’s investment experience.

SSEK Law Firm Investigates St. George’s Ltd. Losses For Investors

Published on: April 18, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Cetera and Other Broker-Dealers May Have Unsuitably Sold St. George’s Ltd Products to Customers

Our broker misconduct lawyers are looking into claims of losses by investors who were marketed and sold products from St. George’s, Ltd. The Bermuda-based life insurance company has been in liquidation proceedings since 2019. Its owner, Ramesh Dusoroth, is accused of defrauding investors of millions of dollars.

The joint provisional liquidators in this endeavor involving St. George’s Ltd. are John Johnston and Rachel Frisby of Deloitte, Ltd. Both of them are also involved in the liquidation proceedings of Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda), another offshore company that has been the cause of investment losses for many foreign nationals. Northstar (Bermuda) owner Greg Lindberg is now in prison, and he also likely misappropriated investors’ money.

Ex-IFS Securities Broker Steven Schisler Barred Following Unsuitable Investment Recommendations

Published on: March 21, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-IFS Securities Broker Recommended Promissory Note to Elderly Investors

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has barred ex-IFS Securities registered representative Steven Douglas Schisler beginning January 31, 2022. Schisler, who works out of the Greater Sacramento, California area, has been a financial planner and investment advisor for over 20 years. He is also the principal of Synergy Wealth Management.

The industry bar comes in the wake of allegations that Schisler unsuitably recommended a promissory note to an older married couple.