In addition to being the financial center of the South, Atlanta now has the dubious distinction of ranking second only to New York as a hotbed for investment fraud, according to a front page story in the April 25 ? May 1, 2008 issue of the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
In April, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched the “PAUSE” program to provide investors with regularly updated factual information, derived from investor complaints and other sources, about questionable email or telephone solicitations from securities firms. This program will shed light on a dark corner of the financial world attracted by Atlanta’s decade-long economic boom.
Fraudulent securities companies tend to group themselves in economic centers, especially those cities such as Atlanta with a large influx of population. Additionally, the money management industry has exploded in Atlanta with firms that manage billions of dollars in private wealth. These legitimate firms tend to attract fraudulent ones. “These people go where the money and the people are and Atlanta is a money management town,” said Conrad Ciccotello, Georgia State University’s director of personal finance.
As of April 23, the SEC’s online service listed four unregistered soliciting entities in Atlanta and two fictitious regulatory agencies. Fraud still occurs as many companies use an Atlanta address to establish a false local presence when they are actually located elsewhere, including overseas. “The Internet has made it much more difficult for regulators to catch these kinds of scams,” says Bob Terry, director of Georgia’s Securities Division.
Page Perry is an Atlanta-based law firm with over 125 years collective experience representing investors in securities-related litigation and arbitration. While past results are not indicative of future success, Page Perry’s attorneys have recovered over $1,000,000 for clients on more than 30 occasions. Page Perry’s attorneys are actively involved in counseling institutional and individual investors regarding their investment problems relating to fraudulent activity . For further information, please contact us.