The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is warning investors to watch out for financial schemes in which the fraudsters are pretending to be the self-regulatory organization. FINRA released its Investor Alert noting that there have been scammers using its FINRA logo and name. In some instances they are even forging the…
Rabobank NA Admits to Anti-Money Laundering Deficiencies, Will Pay Nearly $369M Rabobank National Association, a subsidiary of Rabobank UA (RABO), has pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy for obstructing the Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s examination of the bank while hiding that its anti-money laundering…
Businessman Settles SEC Case Over Immigrant Visa-Related Investor Scam Ariel Quiros, a businessman accused of defrauding foreign investors seeking to earn US residency through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, has agreed to the settle the Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against him. As part of the settlement, which a court…
In the criminal case brought against them, two ex-Morgan Stanley (MS) investment advisers, James S. Polese and Cornelius Peterson, have pleaded guilty to the criminal charges against them. Polese was charged with conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, investment adviser fraud, and multiple counts of bank fraud. Peterson is charged with conspiracy,…
BNP Paribas USA (BNP), A BNP Paribas unit, will pay $90M to settle a criminal case alleging foreign currency price manipulation. It also pleaded guilty by admitting that it conspired to fix prices for Eastern European, Central European, African, and Middle Eastern (CEEMEA)currencies between 9/2011 and 7/2013. According to the…
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG (DB) will pay a $30M civil penalty to resolve charges brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission accusing them of spoofing. According to the regulator, from at least 2/2008 through 9/2014, DB AG, with the help of a number of precious metal…
After backing Outcome Health, an advertising company, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (GS) and other investors are among those suing the startup for fraud and to get their money back. The lawsuit, filed a couple of months ago, comes in the wake of allegations that investors were fooled by inflated information…
Two Fast Food Restaurant Workers are Accused of Impersonating SEC Employees Frank Gregory Cedeno and Leonel Alexis Valerio Santana, two employees at a Florida restaurant, are accused of pretending to be SEC employees who tried to get at least 95 investors to give pay them $1.3M. The men are charged…
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed civil cases against virtual currency operators CabbageTech, Entrepreneurs Headquarters Ltd., and My Big Coin Pay Inc. The regulator is alleging fraud, misappropriation, misrepresentation, and other unregistered securities allegations. It wants disgorgement, fines, restitution, injunctions, and other remedies. In the case against CabbageTech,…
The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of an investment adviser who is challenging the liability findings against him in a securities fraud case presided over by a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) administrative law judge. Raymond Lucia, also a former radio host, was accused of…