In New York, the founders of Centra Tech are now facing securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges related to an alleged cryptocurrency fraud. Robert Farkas, Sohrab Sharma, and Raymond Trapani are accused of fraudulently raising $32M from investors during an initial coin offering (ICO). Prosecutors claim that the men…
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…
ICFBCFS and Chardan Capital Markets Accused of Anti-Money Laundering FINRA has fined the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Financial Services LLC (ICBCFS) $5.3M for “systemic anti-money laundering compliance failures.” The self-regulatory organization contends that when clearing and settling the liquidation of over 33 billion penny stock shares between 1/2013…
Once again, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has arrived at yet another securities settlement related to its mortgage practices leading up to the 2008 housing crisis. This time, RBS is getting ready to pay almost $4.9B. The deal, reached with the US Justice Department, must still must be finalized. The…
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…
$34M Illegal Stock Scam Leads to New Charges The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges in an alleged nearly $34M illegal stock sale involving Biozoom Inc. stock that caused serious financial losses for retail investors. Biozoom was previously called Entertainment Art Inc.. It was in 2013 that the…
According to the Texas State Securities Board’s Enforcement Division, a four-week probe of investment offerings connected to virtual currencies has uncovered “widespread fraud.” The cryptocurrency fraud investigation took a look at investment offerings targeting investors in the state and which appeared to employ fraudulent and illegal solicitation tactics. Of the…
In the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Puerto Rico bond fraud case against ex-UBS Puerto Rico broker Jose Ramirez, a federal judge has found that Ramirez committed fraud and was in violation of securities laws when he directed customers to use lines of credit to purchase Puerto Rico closed-end funds. …
$300M Stock Scam Allegations Lead to Guilty Verdict A Brooklyn jury has convicted ex-OmniView Capital Advisors LLC CEO Abraxas J. Discala of conspiracy, wire fraud, and securities fraud in a $300M market rigging scam/ pump-and dump fraud. A second defendant, lawyer Kyleen Cane, was acquitted after initially being charged with…
In an agreement reached with the North American State Securities Administrators Association, LPL Financial (LPLA) will pay $26M in fines to a number of US states and jurisdictions over unregistered securities sales going back more than a decade. NASAA reports that the settlement comes after a task force was set…