Michael Liberty

Jury Convicts Investment Manager for Defrauding Lenders and Clients

A federal jury has convicted Shawn Baldwin, a Chicago investment manager, on seven counts of wire fraud. Baldwin is accused of fraudulently obtaining over $10M from at least 15 investors and lenders between 2006 and 2017. They thought that their money would go into investment products. Instead, he spent their money on his own personal bills. Meantime, his victims were given fake account statements with false information about their funds’ value so he could hide the fraud.

Individual and corporate lenders were among those that gave Baldwin their money to invest. He is accused of “exaggerating” his successful track record and professional ties, as well as mispresenting and minimizing past disciplinary action brought against him, including the revocation of his certifications with FINRA and that in 2013, the State of Illinois permanently barred Baldwin from offering investment advice or selling securities.

Goldman Sachs and Reno, NV Settle Securities Fraud Case
According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the city of Reno is about to settle its securities fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs (GS) for $750K. Nevada’s capital city claims that the firm misled it into taking on risky debt that nearly caused Reno to become insolvent. The Reno City Council will vote on approving the settlement next week. Other details of the settlement remain undisclosed at this time.

The auction-rate securities lawsuit involved over $210M in bonds issued by Reno in ’05 and ’06 to refinance the debt for an events center and another facility. The city claims that Goldman Sachs never disclosed that the ARS market was very risky or that the firm was bidding interest rates down to hold up the market.

When the financial collapse happened in 2008 and banks ceased to bid on auction rates, rates went soaring. This left Reno with a 15% debt interest rate and millions of dollars in penalties that it now owed Goldman. For example, in 2012 Reno paid the firm $2.6M. It paid the Goldman Sachs $7M the following year.

Articles Tagged with Michael Liberty

Criminal Securities Fraud Cases Including Startup Company Charged in $48M Fraud

Jury Convicts Investment Manager for Defrauding Lenders and Clients

Securities News: Goldman Sachs to Settle Reno’s Auction Rate Securities for $750K, SEC Demands Remaining $5.4MFine Owed By Maine Developer, & a Federal Judge Rules in Jay Peak Resort EB-5 Case