SEC
QUEEN SHOALS INVESTMENT FRAUD
According to this Western District of North Carolina Department of Justice release, Sidney Hanson of Charlotte, North Carolina pleaded guilty in July, 2009 to securities fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering in relation to an investment scheme known as Queen Shoals. The SEC has also filed a Complaint related to the investment scheme.
The SEC states in the above Complaint that the Hansons and their sales force sold almost $33 million in “private loan agreements” to investors around the country. The investments were allegedly to be placed in a diversified portfolio” of precious metals, foreign currency and treasury notes, generating high returns while remaining safe in non-depletion accounts. In reality according to the SEC, the investment funds were invested “in a number of very risky private investment opportunities” and funds from new investors were used to pay off old investors.
Investors who were sold Queen Shoals investments by their stockbrokers, investment advisers, retirement specialists, or financial planners may have claims to be brought against related firms based on securities fraud, suitability, failure to do due diligence, misrepresentations and omissions, and other legal grounds. Greco & Greco is currently investigating sales by FINRA registered parties in Virginia - please contact us for a free consultation if you believe you may have a claim.
Posted by Greco & Greco on 11/25 at 02:57 PM
Arbitration •
Brokerage Firms •
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Retirement •
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North Carolina •
Suitability •
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Provident Royalties / Shale Royalties charged with fraud by SEC
As set out in this SEC Release, Provident Royalties, LLC and many related entities (including Shale Royalties entities) have been charged with engaging in a $485 million offering fraud and orchestrating a ponzi scheme. According to the SEC’s Complaint and release, “Provident falsely promised yearly returns of up to 18 percent,” and used investor funds from later offerings to pay “expenses related to earlier offerings and returns to investors in those offerings.” Unaffiliated brokerage firms were solicited by Provident to sell the investments through placement agreements for each offering, thereby selling the investments to retail investors nationwide.
Investors who were sold these offerings by their stock brokers and have suffered losses may have claims that they can bring in FINRA arbitrations against their brokerage firms. Firms selling such offerings have due diligence duties prior to approval of their sale, and representatives are required to only make suitable recommendations to their customers. Additionally, representatives may not misrepresent the risk of securities they recommend, and they must disclose material facts related to risk. Greco & Greco is preparing to pursue claims in arbitration on behalf of customers who were sold these products. If you think you may have a claim, please contact us for a free consultation with one of our attorneys.
Posted by Greco & Greco on 11/13 at 05:12 PM
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Gunn Allen •
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Ponzi Scheme •
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INVESTIGATION OF WORLD FINANCIAL GROUP CLAIMS
Greco & Greco, in conjunction with local Ohio counsel, is currently investigating alleged claims of individuals sold securities and real estate related investments out of the Ohio and Florida offices of World Financial Group and World Group Securities, specifically including sales made in relation to refinancing of mortgages.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently filed an enforcement action against five California World Group Securities’ representatives, including a branch manager, for selling unsuitable investments to customers, mostly variable universal life policies (VULs). The SEC alleged that because many customers did not have the funds necessary to purchase the investments, the representatives urged them to refinance their homes from fixed rate mortgages into subprime adjustable rate negative amortization mortgages. Read the SEC Release and Complaint here.
If you think you may have a claim and wish to speak to an attorney, please contact Greco & Greco toll free at 877-821-5550.
Posted by Greco & Greco on 11/26 at 05:03 PM
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World Group Securities •
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Fraud charges by SEC against Former UBS broker
Fraud charges related to the sale of a hedge fund operated as a ponzi scheme were settled with a former broker of UBS according to this CCH Wall Street article.. The SEC alleged in its Complaint that the UBS broker made misrepresentations regarding the GLT Venture Fund, L.P. while raising $14.1 million for the fund. The broker agreed to pay disgorgement and civil penalties in addition to an injunction forbidding future violations.
Posted by Greco & Greco on 01/25 at 05:21 PM
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UBS •
Hedge Funds •
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News from SEC’s Senior Summit
The SEC reported at its 2nd Annual Senior Summit that it was working on codifying suitability rules as they apply to recommendations for the purchase of securities by stock brokers, and further clarifying sales practice principals for investment professionals. If properly crafted, additional guidance in these areas should help prevent abuse of investors as well as provide additional tools for attorneys representing investors who have been abused by their stock brokers.
The SEC, FINRA, and state regulators also reported the results of their “free lunch” sweep of seminars targeted as seniors. The findings included 59% of the brokerage firms involved failing to properly supervise the seminars, and 23% of the seminars including advice that was unsuitably risky for senior investors.
Posted by Greco & Greco on 09/21 at 02:31 PM
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Suitability •
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