Investment Firm and Its CEO Are Expelled and Barred for Inflating the Price of Shares Before Selling Them The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has expelled Hallmark Investments and barred Steven G. Dash, who is the firm’s CEO, over a securities scam that involved selling stocks at inflated prices. According to…
Jason Galanis, an ex-investment banker, who is already serving eleven years behind bars for stock rigging, has been sentenced to five years in prison for fraud involving a Native American tribal bond. He must forfeit over $43M and pay nearly $44M of restitution. In the tribal bond scam, Galanis and…
A jury has found former pharmaceutical CEO and hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli guilty of securities fraud in connection with his two hedge funds, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, as well as of conspiracy to commit securities fraud involving shares of the drug company Retrophin, which he founded. Prosecutors had…
Ex-Gerova Financial Group Head is Sentenced in $72M Fraud Gary Hirst, the former president of Gerova Financial Group who was convicted of securities fraud and wire fraud last year, has been sentenced to six years behind bars. Hirst defrauded Gerova shareholders when he secretly gave away almost $72M of company…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against four former brokers for allegedly persuading federal employees to roll over holdings from federal retirement accounts into variable annuity products that charged higher fees. Their targets were Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) participants. The plan is administered by the Federal Retirement…
Businessman Accused of Taking Investors’ Money That Was Supposed to Go Toward Fighting Cancer In a complaint brought by the SEC, the regulator has filed securities fraud charges against Patrick Muraca, a Massachusetts businessmen, accusing him of misappropriating investments that were supposed to go toward helping to develop cancer diagnostic…
Haena Park, the Harvard-educated financier who pleaded guilty to the commodities fraud that bilked over 40 investors of more than $23M, is sentenced to three years in prison. Park defrauded friends and family over six years, beginning in 2008, by soliciting investments in different commodities and securities, including equities, futures,…
Ex-Adviser of Retired NBA Player Tim Duncan is Barred from the Industry The US Securities and Exchange Commission has gotten a judgment barring former financial adviser Charles A. Banks IV from the securities industry. Banks, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud that involved bilking ex-NBA player Tim Duncan, was sentenced…
According to prosecutors, criminal charges have been brought against 14 people over their alleged involvement in a $14.7M stock rigging investment scam that primarily targeted older investors. The US Attorney’s office alleges that between 1/2014 and 1/2017 the defendants and others sought to defraud the investors and prospective investors of…
In Oregon, a district court judge has refused to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit accusing TD Ameritrade (AMTD), Integrity Bank & Trust, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Eisner Amper LP, and law firms Tonkon Torp and Sidley Austin of playing a part in the alleged securities fraud committed by Aequitas…