Gonzalo Ortiz, an investment adviser, is facing charges accusing him of defrauding one investor of more than $570K. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ortiz appropriated about $224,500 of his client’s funds and lost about $290K through trades that he made. In its complaint, the SEC said from…
$20M Ponzi Scam Results in Guilty Plea for Kiddar Capital Founder Todd Hitt, Kiddar Capital’s founder and a member of a prominent commercial real estate family in Virginia, has pleaded guilty to criminal fraud charges accusing him of operating a $20M Ponzi fraud that involved several schemes. According to prosecutors,…
Former Centaurus Financial Broker’s Certified Financial Planner Designation is Suspended The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has suspended Texas broker’s Larry J. Templin’s CFP designation. The interim suspension comes after Templin, who is accused of bank fraud, refused to provide the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) with information related…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) panel has found that ex-Royal Alliance Associates broker stole money from Cathy Carter, a 54-year-old widow suffering from a brain injury. Former broker Gary Basralian has already pleaded guilty to defrauding clients of at least $2M and using the funds on himself. Now, FINRA…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel is ordering UBS Financial Services (UBS) and UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico (UBS-PR) to pay investor Jose F. Pastrana $693K, including at least $564,559 in damages, legal fees, and other costs in its Puerto Rico bond fraud case. UBS also must…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced this week that Christopher Faulkner, a Texas businessman, will pay $23.8M to settle oil and gas charges involving an alleged over $80M securities scam that bilked hundreds of investors. Faulkner, who called himself the “Frack Master” and claimed to be an expert in…
Five unregistered brokers and their companies are now facing US Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing them of selling Woodbridge securities to investors even though they were not registered as broker-dealers and therefore were not allowed to sell these securities. The defendants allegedly made millions of dollars from the Woodbridge…
Assured Guaranty has filed a lawsuit against Puerto Rico for the second time. The bond insurance company, which insures about $5 billion of Puerto Rico bonds, wants a federal court to decide that the U.S. territory’s latest fiscal plan to revive it from financial bankruptcy “invalid.” Also named a defendant…
Gerova Financial Group Chairman and Two Others Plead Guilty in Scam to Defraud Native American Tribe and Other Investors Gary Hirst, Jason Galanis, and Hugh Dunkerley have all pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to a scam to defraud a Native American tribal entity and a number of investment advisory…
Altaba is Fined $35M For Not Disclosing World’s Largest Data Breach Altaba, formerly Yahoo! Inc., will pay a $35M penalty in a data breach settlement to resolve US Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing the entity of misleading investors because it did not disclose a major cyber-security data breach. Despite…