A federal jury has found ex-American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP) Inc. CEO Brian Block guilty of securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and other offenses, and of submitting false certifications and filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Block was convicted of overstating the adjusted funds from operations…
A federal grand jury has indicted the former business manager of Cleveland Cavaliers player Richard Jefferson for allegedly defrauding the professional athlete of $7M. Theodore Kritza is charged with more than 22 criminal counts related to financial fraud. Jefferson reportedly paid the agency that Kritza worked for $250,000 a year…
Lawrence Allan DeShetler is facing up to 20 years in prison for Texas investment adviser fraud. The Houston-based financial adviser pleaded guilty to mail fraud last month. DeShetler fraudulently obtained $1.9M from clients he worked for through DeShetler & Company Inc. Three years ago, he started recommending that they take…
Former Citigroup Global Markets Traders Accused of Spoofing Arrive at Non-Prosecution Deals The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has reached non-prosecution agreements with three ex-Citigroup Global Markets Inc.(C) traders. Daniel Liao, Jeremy Lao, and Shlomo Salant admitted to engaging in spoofing in US treasury futures markets while working for the…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has brought penny stock fraud charges against Diana P. Lovera, the ex-COO of Oxford City Football Club, Inc. Lovera faced criminal charges in a parallel case and she has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. According to the…
Penn West Petroleum is Accused of Accounting Fraud The US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Penn West Petroleum Ltd., now called Obsidian Energy Ltd., and three of its ex-finance executives with involvement in an alleged accounting fraud. According to the regulator, the Canadian-based oil and gas company fraudulently transferred…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) arbitration panel has awarded two investors $793,000 in their Puerto Rico municipal bond fraud case against UBS Financial Services (UBS) and UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico (UBS-PR). The claimants, Madeleine Carrero (as an in individual and as the trustee of Ulises Barros Carrero…
Nearly a year after suing his former financial adviser for allegedly misappropriating $15M from him, Dallas Cowboys running back Darren McFadden is now suing Ameriprise Financial (AMP) over his investment losses. In his Texas securities fraud case, McFadden claims that the firm was negligent in supervising Michael Vick. The broker…
At the Federal District Court in Brooklyn, former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli is on trial for multiple counts of securities fraud and wire fraud. Just this Monday, over 120 potential jurors were dismissed for various reasons. A number of them, through their statements, revealed that they could not be…
Prosecutors in the US have filed lawsuits to seize assets that may be connected to an alleged financial fraud involving the 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (1MDB), which is a Malaysian state fund. The Justice Department is looking to recover $540M in property, assets, and other items. 1MDB was launched by Malaysian…