A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel has awarded over $4.3M to investors in their elder financial fraud case against former First Allied Securities broker Anthony Diaz. The plaintiffs contend that he invested their retirement funds in high risk private placement investments that were unsuitable for them. They are alleging…
Investor Lawyers Blog
Investors Continue to Go After Goldman Sachs in the Wake of Abacus CDO-Related Losses
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan has decided that the shareholder lawsuit brought against Goldman Sachs (GS) for its high-risk subprime securities leading up to the 2008 financial crisis cannot move forward as a class action securities fraud case. The court said that a lower court judge…
Barclays Capital Trader is Indicted in Massive Front Running Scam
A criminal indictment has been issued against Robert Bogucki, Barclays’ (BARC) ex-foreign exchange operation head in New York. Bogucki, who is a Barclay’s trader but has been on leave since late 2016, is accused of involvement in a scam to bilk one of the bank’s clients by engaging in front-running.…
BitConnect Shutters Its Lending and Exchange Operation, Leaving Texas Investors With No Place to Trade Their BCC Currency
BitConnect, an investment lending platform for Bitcoin, has suddenly announced that it is shuttering its lending and exchange operation immediately. The company said that its exchange platform would shut down in five days. In a post on its site, BitConnect said that moving forward, it would operate for “wallet service,…
FINRA Cases: Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker and Former Western International Securities Broker Are Barred, Questar Capital Ordered to Pay $797K Restitution Over Mutual Fund Sales, and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is Accused of Not Sending Millions of Margin Disclosures
Two Brokers Barred After Not Appearing at FINRA Hearings Guillermo Valladolid, an ex-Morgan Stanley (MS) broker, has been barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. According to the regulator, Valladolid did not show up at a hearing into whether, according to InvestmentNews, he “sold investments away from his employer” and…
US Supreme Court to Hear Challenge Against SEC Over In-House Judges
The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of an investment adviser who is challenging the liability findings against him in a securities fraud case presided over by a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) administrative law judge. Raymond Lucia, also a former radio host, was accused of…
Securities Fraud: Attorney Ordered To Pay Disgorgement in Alleged $15.8M Investor Fraud, and Investment Adviser Accused of Bilking Professional Athletes Pleads Guilty, as Does Hedge Fund Manager In A Separate Investor Scam
Investment Adviser Accused of Scamming Pro Athletes and Church Members Admits to Securities Fraud Richard Wyatt Davis Jr., a North Carolina-based investment adviser,has pleaded guilty to tax evasion and securities fraud charges. Davis was indicted for securities fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion in 2017. He initially pleaded not guilty.…
Securities News: Meyers Associates Fined $75K for Sales Literature, Former Royal Bank of Scotland Trader is Banned For Rigging Libor, and Ex-Credit Union CEO is Sentenced in Bank Fraud Case
Meyers Associates is Fined by FINRA Over Misleading Sales Literature The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is ordering Meyers Associates, now called Windsor Street Capital, to pay a $75K fine for a number of securities violations, including sending sales literature that was misleading via email and not supervising books and records…
Malachi Financial Products is Accused of Defrauding The City of Rolling Fork, Mississippi
In its complaint, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has submitted a civil junctive action accusing Malachi Financial Products, Inc. and its principal Porter B. Bingham, of municipal bank fraud targeting Rolling Fork, Mississippi. According to the regulator, Malachi and Bingham charged the city too much for municipal advisory services…
SEC Suspends Trading in UBI Blockchain After 900% Stock Jump from Cryptocurrency Craze
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered the suspension trading in UBI Blockchain Internet Ltd.(UBIA) stock. The company’s stock rose over 900% last year in the wake of the popularity of digital currencies. Now, the SEC has temporarily halted the sale and purchase of UBI BLockChain stock because of…