Securities Fraud

Securities Lawsuit Against BlackRock Accuses Firm of Charging Excessive Sub-Advisor Fees

Published on: August 19, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

BlackRock Inc. (BLK) wants a judge to dismiss a securities lawsuit accusing the money manager of charging exorbitant fees and breaching its fiduciary duties. Lawyers for the firm argued that the claims have no merit in the U.S. District Court in Trenton, New Jersey.

The investor plaintiffs, including a Florida investment adviser who won the lottery, contend that BlackRock’s subsidiaries collected excessive fees for services provided to Equity Dividend Fund (MDDVX), worth almost $30 billion, and their Global Allocation Fund, (MDLOX), worth close to $59 billion. They say that they lost millions of dollars because of excessive fees.

However, reports InvestmentNews, according to one of the lawyers representing BlackRock, the complaint does not properly acknowledge the fund’s size or allege facts adequate enough to plausibly demonstrate that the fees are unreasonable, especially considering the services that were provided.

Former MIT Professor and His Son Plead Guilty to $140M Hedge Fund Fraud

Published on: August 14, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Gabriel Bitran, an ex- Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, and his son Marco Bitran have pled guilty to securities fraud charges accusing them of bilking investors of $140 million. Through their company, GMP Capital Management, the father and son placed investor money in hedge funds linked to Bernard Madoff, who ran the Ponzi scam that defrauded clients of billions of dollars.

According to prosecutors, from 2005 to 2011 Bitran and Marco collected $500 million from investors by promising to invest their funds using an original complex mathematical trading model. The money was supposed to go into exchange-traded funds and other securities but were instead placed in hedge funds.

When the financial crisis of 2008 happened, a number of the hedge funds got into trouble. Some of their investors lost up to 75% of their principal.

SEC Tells J.S. Oliver Capital to Pay $15M for Alleged Cherry-Picking Scam

Published on: August 11, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

SEC Chief Administrative law judge Brenda Murray has fined J.S. Oliver Capital Management $15 million for securities violations and breach of fiduciary duty related to an alleged cherry-picking scam that bilked clients of approximately $10.9 million. The registered investment adviser must also pay $1.4 million in disgorgement.

According to the regulator, the RIA awarded profitable trades to hedge funds associated with the firm, while other clients, including a charitable foundation and a widow, were given the less profitable trades that resulted in major losses. These hedge funds that benefited were those in which J.S. Oliver founder Ian Oliver Mausner was an investor. Mausner is also accused of using soft-dollar commissions inappropriately.

Mausner continues to deny the SEC charges. He claims that the profitable trades were disproportionately allocated because of market volatility and that clients’ investment goals played a part.

SEC Gets Nearly $70M Judgment Against Richmond, VA Firms, CEO Find Liable for Securities Fraud

Published on: August 5, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

AIC Inc., Community Bankers Securities LLC, and CEO Nicholas D. Skaltsounis must pay a nearly $70 million judgment for securities fraud, in the wake of an earlier trial that found them liable. The Securities and Exchange Commission had accused them of conducting an offering fraud while selling millions of dollars in AIC promissory notes and stocks to investors in different states, including unsophisticated investors and elderly customers.

The regulator accused them of omissions and misrepresentations of material information about the investments, their risks, the return rates, and how the money would be used by AIC, which is a financial services holding company, and Community Bankers Securities, its subsidiary brokerage firm. The SEC argued that the companies were not profitable and new investors’ money was used in Ponzi scam fashion to repay returns and principal to earlier investors.

Last year, a jury ruled in the SEC’s favor against AIC, Community Bankers Securities and Skaltsounis. Now, AIC must disgorge over $6.6 million, over $969,00 in prejudgment interest, and a $27.95 million penalty. Community Bankers Securities disgorgement is $2.8 million, over $400,000 in prejudgment interest, and a $27.95 million penalty. Skaltsounis is to pay over $2.5 million dollars in total.

Broker Fraud: Ex-Investors Capital Rep. is Indicted in Ponzi Scheme, Credit Suisse Sues Two Ex-Brokers Over Client Data Theft, and SEC Files More Insider Trading in IBM-SPSS Acquisition

Published on: July 1, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Investors Capital Rep. Charged in $2.5M Ponzi Scam

Patricia S. Miller, a former Investors Capital Corp. representative, has been indicted on charges that she ran a $2.5 million investment fraud. She is accused of promising clients high yields for placing funds in “investment clubs.” Miller allegedly took this money and either gambled it away or used it to pay for her own spending.

According to prosecutors in Massachusetts, alleged fraud took place from 2002 through May 2014. Investors Capital fired Miller last month. Her BrokerCheck Report notes that the independent broker-dealer let her go because she allegedly misappropriated funds, borrowed client money, generated false documents, and engaged in “fraudulent investment activity.” Miller is charged with five counts of wire fraud.

SEC Charges Chicago Investment Advisory Founder With Real Estate Investment Fraud

Published on: June 11, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Attorney Robert C. Acri with Illinois securities fraud related to a real estate venture. Acri is the founder of Kenilworth Asset Management, LLC, a Chicago-based investment advisory firm. He has agreed to settle by disgorging the funds that were misappropriated from investors, as well as commissions, interest, and a penalty. Monetary sanctions total about $115,000.

The SEC brought the real estate investment fraud charges after detecting possible misconduct when it examined the firm. The regulator’s Enforcement Division was alerted and a probe followed.

According to the findings of the investigation, Acri misled investors over promissory notes that were issued to supposedly redevelop an Indiana shopping center, misappropriated $41,250 for other purposes, and failed to tell investors that the firm received a 5% on every note sale. This amount would total $13,750. He also purportedly did not let investors know a number of material facts, including that the reason there even was an investment offer is that he was trying to rescue funds that other clients had invested earlier in the same real estate developer.

SEC Judge Bans Money Manager For Misleading Morningstar and the Public

Published on: May 27, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission judge Cameron Elliot has banned Max E. Zavanelli, a separate-account money manager from the securities industry. Now, Zavanelli and his firm, ZPR Investment Management Inc., must pay $660,000 for misleading research firm Morningstar Inc. and the public.

ZPR Investment Management, in its filing with securities regulators, names over $200 million in assets from 119 accounts. Its clients include pension plans, high net worth individuals, and charitable organizations.

According to Judge Elliot, Zavanelli misrepresented and left out important information in newspaper ads, newsletters, and reports to Morningstar. Firm performance data is believed to have falsely implied compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards. These are the standardized, voluntary ethical principals for investment advisers that call for fair representation and full disclosure. It also includes guidance for advertisements that maintain they are in compliance with GIPS.

US Wants BNP Paribas to Pay Over $3.5B and Plead Guilty to Criminal Charges

Published on: May 13, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Authorities in the United States want BNP Paribas SA (BNP) to pay over $3.5 billion to settle state and federal probes into the lender’s involvement with countries that are sanctioned, including Iran and Sudan. Prosecutors reportedly would like BNP to plead guilty to criminal charges related to the alleged misconduct. The government’s push for a guilty plea is definitely a shift from previous sanction cases that were usually resolved with a deferred prosecution deal.

The US Justice Department, US Treasury Department, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, the New York Department of Financial Services, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office are the ones who conducted the investigations against BNP Paribas. According to Reuters, last week the bank’s CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafe and its lawyers met with the New York Department of Financial Services to ask for leniency. A source told the wire service that the state’s banking regulator doesn’t plan to take away BNP Parabas’s license as longa as any deal reached includes certain stiff penalties, such as the temporary suspension of dollar clearing through New York.

US authorities have pursued several foreign banks because they violated sanctions on Iran and other nations. The government believes that these banks did business with entities with ties to these countries, perhaps even stripping information that came from wire transfers so they could get through the US financial system without raising concerns.

FSOC Worries Crackdown on Banks is Creating New Risks

Published on: May 7, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Regulators belonging to the Financial Stability Oversight Council are looking at the new practices of asset managers, mortgage services companies, and insurers to search for potential threats related to certain high risk investment areas. The group just issued its yearly report to Congress, highlighting certain risks, both current and emerging ones. According to The Wall Street Journal, there is concern that the US government’s efforts to clamp down on banks could be sending risky activity outside the reach of legal recourse.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, banks are now subject to stricter rules. Two of the added requirements are that these financial institutions lower their exposure to high risk businesses and keep more loss-absorbing capital as protection in case of another economic meltdown. Now, however, regulators are watching to see whether financial firms that aren’t banks have been stepping in to fill in the roles that the latter vacated because of the stipulations.

For example, some nonbanks are now involved in mortgage servicing rights, which involves the collection and billing of mortgages. These firms aren’t under the same kind of regulatory oversight as banks, nor are they obligated to carry a specific cushion of capital.

In the report, the council expressed worry over certain securities lending markets-related activities. Asset-management firms are now providing protection services to investors engaging in short-selling and hedging. However, these firms also don’t have to carry a capital buffer. The regulators also expressed cause for possible concern because life-insurance companies have moved tens of billions of dollars of policy holder obligations to captive affiliates, which generally are not subject to even minimal disclosure.

The FSOC said it would keep an eye on these “emerging threats.” Areas that regulators have already identified as risk points include money-market mutual funds, repurchase agreements, short-term wholesale funding, growing interest rates, and cyber security. Also noted as possible causes for worry were whether fire sales might cause instability, how certain firms might be impacted by interest rates rising, the inadequate overhaul of the housing finance market, tight access to mortgage credits, and the markets’ dependence on Libor.

The council also acknowledging that there have been successes, including better balance sheets for big bank holding companies, greater confidence levels thanks to the Federal Reserve’s stress tests to gauge whether a financial institution could survive another economic crisis, the completion of the Volcker rule, and new rules for swaps markets and bank capital.

The SSEK Partners Group represents institutional investors and high net worth individual investors with securities fraud claims. We help clients get their money back.

Regulators See Growing Financial Risks Outside Traditional Banks, The Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2014

Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) Releases Fourth Annual Report, Treasury.gov

2014 Annual Report

Financial Regulators See Progress and Threats, NY Times, May 7, 2014

More Blog Posts:
Morgan Stanley Gets $5M Fine for Supervisory Failures Involving 83 IPO Shares Sales, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, May 6, 2014

Bank of America Ordered to Hold Off Giving Back Money To Shareholders After Incorrectly Reporting $4B in Capital, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, May 5, 2014

Lawyers, Investor Advocates Want to Know More About SEC Supervision Of FINRA’s Arbitrator Selections, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, December 2, 2013

Morgan Stanley Gets $5M Fine for Supervisory Failures Involving 83 IPO Shares Sales

Published on: May 6, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (MS) will pay a $5 million fine for supervisory failures involving its advisors soliciting shares in 83 IPOs to retail investors. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says that the firm lacked the proper training and procedures to make sure that salespersons knew the difference between “conditional offers” and “indications of interest.”

By settling, Morgan Stanley is not denying or admitting to the supervisory failures securities charges. It is, however, consenting to the entry of findings by FINRA.

FINRA believes these issues are related to Morgan Stanley’s acquisition of Smith Barney from Citigroup (C) a couple of years ago. In addition to inheriting more high net worth clients, the SRO contends that Morgan Stanley ended up with financial advisers who might not have gotten the needed training.