A federal jury has found two men accused of running a financial scam that bilked investors, including several National Hockey League players, of $30 million guilty of money laundering, conspiracy, and wire fraud. The trial against Phillip Kenner, an Arizona financial adviser, and Tommy Constantine, a former professional race car…
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin is charging Securities America with inadequate supervision of a broker who is accused of using a “grossly deceptive” radio ad campaign to target older investors. The state regulator said that the financial firm shouldn’t have approved the spots that Barry Armstrong ran on…
A federal grand jury has indicted ex-Bank of Oswego president and CEO Dan Heine and former CFO Diana Yates with running a widespread, five-year conspiracy to hide the Oregon-based bank’s troubled financial state from regulators. According to the indictments, the two of them authorized secret deals to conceal bad loans…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) would pay close to $30 million, including a $10 million penalty, to settle charges that it misallocated over $17 million in “broken deal” expenses to its flagship private equity funds. According to the regulator, over a…
The SEC is charging Ireeco LLC and Ireeco Limited with serving as unregistered brokers for over 150 foreign investors. The two firms are accused of illegally brokering over $79M of investments by those who wanted to become U.S. residents under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. The program offers a way…
Earlier this year, our securities law firm published a blog post reporting that San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan had filed a Texas securities case against financial representative Charles Banks. Duncan contends that due to unsuitable recommendations made to him by Banks, he allegedly lost some $25 million. Banks, a private-equity…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued an alert warning non-U.S. and U.S. investors about scammers who use fake regulator websites and identities to steal money. Some scammers have even used FINRA’s name or pretended to be employed by the self-regulatory organization. These fraudsters will typically ask for an advance payment…
Sunil Sharma, a former stockbroker who hasn’t been part of the securities industry for over 10 years, has pleaded guilty to fraud charges. The 68-year-old is facing 20 years behind bars for starting what prosecutors claim was a $6 million Ponzi scam that ran from 2008 to 2014. He allegedly…
The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has ordered Sage Advisory Group and principal Benjamin Lee Grant (“Lee Grant”) to pay over $1M for two SEC fraud cases. The ruling comes after a federal jury found both of them liable. In the first case, the regulator is…
“The Financial Coach” Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud Bryan C. Binkholder, also known as the “The Financial Coach,” will serve nine years in prison for bilking clients. Binkholder used books, a talk show, and YouTube videos to market his “hard money lending” program. According to prosecutors, he touted himself as…