Massachusetts claims that Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MS) ran a high-pressure sales contest to give its financial advisers incentive to get clients to borrow funds against their brokerage accounts. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin filed the complaint against the firm. According to the state, from 1/14 through…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging ex-Samoyedic’s Inc. and Fun Cool Free Inc. founder Craig V. Sizer and boiler room operator Miguel Mesa with involvement in a $20M penny stock scam to bilk senior investors and others. At least 600 investors were allegedly victimized in the fraud. The…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered Avenir Financial Group to pay a $229K fine over allegations that the latter engaged in the fraudulent sale of promissory notes and equity interests in the firm. Avenir is suspended from taking part in the self-offerings of securities for two years. According…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is awarding over $4M to a whistleblower for providing original information that led to a successful fraud case. This is individual is the 34th whistleblower that the SEC’s program has awarded since 2011, upping the total amount granted in such awards to over $111M.…
Chad Peter Smanjak has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Smanjak admitted to operating a pump-and-dump scam linked to a company founded by Daniel Ruettiger, also known as Rudy. Ruettiger’s time playing football at Notre Dame was retold in the movie “Rudy.” Smanjak is accused of…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said that BOK Financial Corporation subsidiary BOKF NA will pay over $1.6M to resolve charges accusing the Oklahoma-based bank of ignoring signs that businessman Christopher F. Brogdon was engaged in suspect activates related to his management of municipal bond offerings for investors. Brogdon was…
Andrew Caspersen is now permanently barred from the investment industry. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the ban. Caspersen, who used to be the managing principal at Park Hill Group and is the son of financier and philanthropist Finn M. W. Caspersen, had pleaded guilty to criminal charges of securities…
Paul Mata, the founder of Logos Wealth Advisors, has been barred by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mata and fund manage David Kayatta, whom the SEC has also barred, are accused of fraudulently raising over $14M in investor funds. Mata drew in investors through investment seminars and online videos…
Caldwell International Securities Gets $2M Fine to Settle Churning Allegations The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has imposed a $2M fine on Caldwell International Securities Corp. It is fining Greg Caldwell, who is the principal of the financial firm, $50K. He is now barred from serving as a principal in the…
Richard Weed, a financial services lawyer, has been sentenced to four years in prison over his involvement in a stock scam involving a number of publicly trading companies. His sentence was issued in the U.S. District Court in Boston. Weed was convicted of securities fraud and wire fraud in May.…