Ex-Wells Fargo Brokers Barred Over Unsuitable Energy Securities Sales The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has barred brokers Charles Lynch and Charles Frieda for making unsuitable recommendations to investors, resulting in substantial financial losses to the latter. Lynch and Frieda are former Wells Fargo (WFC) representatives who were based in Southern…
Shawn Baldwin, a Chicago investment manager, is charged with eight counts of wire fraud. Baldwin, who owns a number of investment-related firms, is accused of fraudulently obtaining over $10M from at least 17 individual investors and corporate lenders between 2006 and May 2017. According to the criminal indictment accusing him…
The SEC has filed civil charges against Westport Capital Markets LLC and principal Christopher E. McClure. The Connecticut-based, dually registered brokerage firm and investment adviser and its principal are accused of defrauding clients, costing them over $1M in losses. According to the regulator’s securities fraud complaint, the investment advisory firm…
Ex-Philadelphia Eagles Player Who Bilked Former Coaches is Sentenced to 40 Years Merrill Robertson Jr., a former Philadelphia Eagles football player, will serve 40 years in prison for a $10M fraud that bilked investors. Among his investor fraud victims were coaches he knew from when he played football at the…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has imposed a $1.75M penalty on Ameriprise (AMP) related to its sale of F-Squared Alpha Sector strategies. The financial firm must also disgorge $7.3M. According to the regulator, F-Squared Investments made mistakes when calculating the historical performance of its Alpha Sector investment strategies. These sector rotation…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has imposed a $1.75M penalty on Ameriprise (AMP) related to its sale of F-Squared Alpha Sector strategies. The financial firm must also disgorge $7.3M. According to the regulator, F-Squared Investments made mistakes when calculating the historical performance of its Alpha Sector investment strategies. These…
James C. Tao, an ex-financial adviser, has settled civil charges accusing him of bilking investors in a private equity fund. It was the US Securities and Exchange Commission that brought the Texas investment fraud charges against him. Among the allegations was that Tao misappropriated investor money and made material misstatements…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against two brokers for allegedly carrying out broker fraud in the form of unsuitable trades that made them money while costing investors. According to the regulator’s complaint, Zachary Berkey and Daniel Fischer engaged in in-and-out trading—a strategy that was “almost…
SEC Awards Whistleblower $4.1M A company insider who notified the US Securities Exchange Commission about a “widespread, multi-year securities law violation” involving the employer, is getting a $4.1M whistleblower award. The individual, who is a foreign national employed abroad, also provided information and help during the regulator’s probe. Further details…
Nehal Chopra, founder of the hedge fund Ratan Capital Management, and her husband Paritosh Gupta have settled US Securities and Exchange Commission charges alleging that they acted improperly: He, by sharing confidential investment recommendations with her and she, by not disclosing to her clients that her husband was the one…