Wells Fargo Settles Securities Lawsuit Over Medical Capital Holdings Ponzi Scam for $105M

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) has consented to pay $105M to investors of the now failed Medical Capital Holdings Inc. The bank had served as trustee for Medical Capital securities.

The medical receivables financing company got about $2.2 billion from thousands of investors between 2001 and 2009 via the private placement offerings that were promissory notes. The private placement was a high commission financial instrument that promised annual returns of 8.5% to 10.5%. Per court filings, investors paid Medical Capital nearly $325 million in administrative fees. Dozens of independent brokerage firms sold the notes.

It was in 2009 that the SEC accused affiliates of Medical Capital of committing securities fraud against investors. The financial scam was quickly shut down and the company soon entered receivership but investors got back just half their money. Many of them would go on to file a securities lawsuit against trustees Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) and Wells Fargo accusing the financial firms of failing to fulfill their role as trustees by neglecting to detect the fraud. Meantime, many of the brokerage firms that sold the MedCap notes are no longer in business because they sank from the securities arbitration payments and legal costs that followed as a result.

Even as Wells Fargo is settling this MedCapital securities case, the bank maintains that it did nothing wrong and that the one to blame is Medical Capital. This settlement comes a few months after Bank of New York Mellon resolved similar claims against it for $114M.

In that class action securities case, investors are sharing a $90.68M payment, with $13.6M going to legal fees and another $1.8M to expenses. Bank of New York Mellon also denied any wrongdoing.

Wells Fargo Settles Medical Capital Investor Suit for $105 Million, Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2013

Wells Fargo agrees to pay $105M to end MedCap suit, Investment News, May 1, 2013

Bank of NY Mellon to pay $114 million in Medical Capital accord, Reuters, February 22, 2013

More Blog Posts:
Medical Capital Fraud Lawsuit Against Wells Fargo Must Proceed, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, April 10, 2013

FINRA Bars Former Wells Fargo Advisors Broker that Bilked Child with Cerebral Palsy, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, April 26, 2012