A lawsuit filed by the Madoff bankruptcy trustee, Irving Picard, which was unsealed on February 3, 2011, alleges that J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. stood “at the very center” of the Madoff fraud, according to a Wall Street Journal article by Michael Rothfield entitled “Madoff Trustee’s Suit Says J.P. Morgan at ‘Very Center of Fraud.”
In the current economic environment where banks and large financial institutions have received financial bailouts, cash strapped broker dealer Capital Financial Services, Inc. is seeking to get a legal bailout. Despite rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to the contrary and established judicial precedent favoring arbitration, Capital Financial, an independent broker dealer that sold […]
According to an article posted by the Associated Press and InvestmentNews, three advisors who called themselves the ‘3 Hebrew Boys’ were recently sentenced to decades in prison. Timothy McQueen, 52, and Joseph Brunson, 47, were each sentenced to 27 years in prison and Tony Pough, 48, was sentenced to 30 years. The three, all from […]
As money remains tight, the jobless rate high, and foreclosures on the rise, the schemers and con artists come out of the woodwork to take advantage of desperate people. Some of the worst scams are those that offer big returns for investments of thousands of dollars. Even savvy business people fall prey to these “advance […]
Speculators that specialize in “distressed assets” are coming out of the woodwork offering 20 to 30 cents on the dollar to investors with Madoff claims, according to Peter Lattman and Diana B. Henriques in their New York Times DealBook article, “Speculators Are Eager to Bet on Madoff Claims.” These firms have recently stepped up efforts […]
Operation Broken Trust is a newly announced financial fraud enforcement program run by an assemblage of federal law enforcement agencies known as the Fraud Enforcement Task Force. Attorney General Eric Holder recently presented it as an aggressive new program involving 343 criminal and 189 civil defendants and more than $8 billion in investor losses that […]
The Real Estate Investment Securities Association (REISA) has drafted a proposed “best practices” guide for firms to use when they sell high-risk private placement securities, such as private notes, oil and gas deals, and real estate funds, which are also known as Reg D offerings, according to an October 19 article in InvestmentNews by Bruce […]
Investors in a so-called “feeder” fund that channeled money to Bernard Madoff have been awarded $12.74 million (which includes interest and $112,000 to cover “fees”) by an arbitration panel, according to a Reuters article published in the Wall Street Journal (“Investors Win $12.74 Million in Madoff Feeder-Fund Case”). The feeder fund is Gabriel Capital LP. […]
One good thing that might come out of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act is better self-policing by Wall Street. Not that Wall Street has changed its unscrupulous ways. But the Securities and Exchange Commission is expecting a big increase in tips from senior employees and third parties because of whistleblowing incentives in the new law […]
In response to recent concerns over high-risk private offerings such as Medical Capital and Provident Royalties, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has issued a Notice to Members (NTM-10-22) that reminds brokerage firms of their obligations to investigate private placements before allowing their representatives to sell those investment products. However, FINRA only regulates registered broker-dealers, […]
