The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has put out an emergency asset freeze against Peter Kohli, a former broker. According to the regulator, the Pennsylvania resident bilked at least 120 investors when he fraudulently raised over $3.2M from them between 2012 and 2015. The regulator attributes the funds collapse to…
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) will settle two civil residential mortgage-backed securities lawsuits for $1.1B. The payment will go to the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and resolves claims accusing the bank of selling faulty MBSs to two corporate credit unions, causing their failure. The federal actions were brought…
According to Bloomberg, the retirement system of Puerto Rico has joined a lawsuit against UBS Financial Services, Inc. (UBS) for poor returns that the retirement system received on $3 billion the it borrowed on UBS’s recommendation. Six beneficiaries originally brought this Puerto Rico bond fraud case in 2011 against UBS…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against three men accusing them of defrauding investors in a project that was supposed to build the largest movie studio on the continent in Georgia. They are: Matthew T. Mellon, Manu Kumaran, and Roger Miguel. According to the regulator, Kumaran, the…
Merrill Lynch, a Bank of America Corp. (BAC) unit must pay a $12.5M fine to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission allegations accusing the brokerage firm of having weak controls that led to mini-flash crashes. This is the largest penalty ever imposed for alleged market access rule violations. According to the…
Three years after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission barred Ray Lucia Sr. from the securities industry, the ex-investment adviser and radio talk show host is still seeking to overturn that decision. Last week, he filed a petition asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to hear his…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has expelled the real estate firm formerly called DT Securities and its owner/CEO Markel Newton. According to the regulator, DT Securities and Newton engaged in negligent misrepresentations involving private placements. Markel is also barred for alleged violations involving two of the firm’s offerings to purchase…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging ex-Samoyedic’s Inc. and Fun Cool Free Inc. founder Craig V. Sizer and boiler room operator Miguel Mesa with involvement in a $20M penny stock scam to bilk senior investors and others. At least 600 investors were allegedly victimized in the fraud. The…
Aozora Bank Ltd. has asked a New York appeals court to allow it to sue Credit Suisse (CS) again over losses that it claims it sustained from a $1.5B collateralized debt obligation. The Japanese lender claims that a lower court erred in dismissing the claims it had previously brought on…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered Avenir Financial Group to pay a $229K fine over allegations that the latter engaged in the fraudulent sale of promissory notes and equity interests in the firm. Avenir is suspended from taking part in the self-offerings of securities for two years. According…