Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Investor Sues Cetera Investment Services For Up to $1M. Broker-Dealer Allegedly Overconcentrated Claimant’s Assets In Now Defunct Offshore Investment
The Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Northstar Bermuda Fraud Law Firm (investorlawyers.com) represents foreign nationals all over Asia and throughout Latin America, whose US-based broker marketed and sold them Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda). In this latest FINRA lawsuit, our client is originally from China and is now a retiree in Mexico. He is suing Cetera Investment Services for up to $1M in damages.
Northstar Bermuda Preguntas Frecuentes
Like many foreign nationals, this investor chose to set up US bank accounts to avoid the risks and fluctuations common abroad. It is through an East West Bank branch that our client met then-broker Leo Li-Yuan Chien, who later became a Cetera financial advisor. He is no longer a registered representative.
This investor entrusted Cetera with his money. We believe that the respondent allegedly abused his trust by overconcentrating a large portion of his assets in Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda).
This offshore entity filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020 and was owned by Greg Lindberg. The North Carolina billionaire has since pleaded guilty to financially harming annuity investors in a $2B fraud.
In his Northstar (Bermuda) lawsuit, our client is alleging negligence, due diligence failure, misrepresentations and omissions, unsuitable recommendations, excessive concentration, a gross lack of supervision, and more.
At no point was this investor made aware of the regulatory problems or other issues facing this offshore entity or that Lindberg was charged with fraud. Not only that, but he was long suspected of funneling money from companies he owned to his special purpose vehicles.
This claimant’s broker began recommending Northstar (Bermuda) investments, the Global Advantage Fund in particular, as early as 2012. Later, he recommended the Northstar Global VIP Fund.
As Northstar Financial Service (Bermuda)’s situation began to decline, the Cetera financial advisor could have recommended that this customer leave its contract with this investment, but did not.
Instead, this investor was led to believe that his returns were safe and that his principal was guaranteed, even though this was an unrated, unprotected, highly risky investment. By September 2020, Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) could report only $8M in assets and had a more than $260M deficit.
What Should You Do If You Are A Northstar (Bermuda) Investor?
Who knows how long Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda)’s bankruptcy proceedings will go on? It is unknown if anything will ever be recovered by the receiver in Bermuda. What you can do, however, is explore whether you have grounds for suing the broker-dealer that sold you this investment.
Brokerage firms earned high commissions from selling Northstar (Bermuda), primarily to international investors, including retirees. These customers deserved more suitable, safer, better-rated, and better-regulated investments.
Even if you don’t live in the US or you are a non-US citizen, know that you may have legal options. The Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Northstar Bermuda Fraud Law Firm is representing hundreds of investors who sustained losses in Northstar (Bermuda) and other Lindberg-owned companies against Cetera and many of the other broker-dealers involved. We are well-informed as to what happened with this failed investment and the role financial advisors played in causing so many serious portfolio losses.
Contact Our Northstar (Bermuda) Fraud Law Firm:
In this US, call our Northstar Bermuda Fraud Law Firm at (800) 259-9010, or International via WhatsApp: (713) 227-2400 (text only). You can also reach out to us online by filling out this form.