Texas attorney Russel Mackert has pleaded guilty to charges related to his involvement in an alleged $100 million life settlement fraud scheme that targeted over 800 investors. A number of the investors that Mackert scammed were retirees. The Department of Justice says that Mackert, who was the attorney for a…
According to the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, the largest investment fraud sweep ever conducted by the United States has ended. Called Operation Broken Trust, the probe involved 231 cases and over 120,000 fraud victims who sustained over $8 billion in investment losses. Operation Broken Trust’s objective was to discover…
The US District Court has approved an amendment to the proposed Charles Schwab Corporation Securities Litigation settlement. The Supplemental Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action has been sent to the affected class members, which includes those who may have held Schwab YieldPlus Fund shares on September 1, 2006 and…
The Court of Appeals of Texas has held that in a shareholder agreement regarding the purchase of company stock, the federal and state Securities Acts anti-waiver provisions did not bar the enforcement of an international forum selection clause. The parties had consented to the exclusive jurisdiction of courts in Ontario,…
TV star Larry Hagman, best known for playing the roles of Texas oil tycoon JR Ewing on “Dallas” and Major Anthony Nelson on “I Dream of Jeannie,” recently won an $11.6 million securities fraud arbitration award against Citigroup. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says that the award is the largest…
According to a district court ruling, investors can proceed with certain securities fraud charges against Citigroup and a number of its directors over the alleged misrepresenting of the risks involved in mortgage-related investments (including auction-rate securities, collateralized debt obligations, Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities, and structured investment vehicles). However, the majority…
Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Trading and Markets Robert Cook and Chief Accountant James Kroeker are reminding auditors that it is important that they comply with specific 1934 Securities Exchange Act reporting requirements when performing annual broker-dealer audits. Earlier this month, the two SEC officials sent a letter to…
In what one investment banking official is calling a “second wave” of securities litigation stemming from the credit and subprime crisis of 2008, financial firms are now suing other financial institutions for damages. While speaking on a Practising Law Institute panel, Morgan Stanley managing director D. Scott Tucker noted that…
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Ketchum says that there should be just one flexible, fiduciary standard for investment advisers and broker-dealers who offer personalized investment advice. Ketchum spoke at a conference earlier this month. Ketchum noted that seeing as investment advisers and broker-dealers essentially work…
As part of its growing investigation into possible inside trading in the $1.7 trillion hedge fund industry, the FBI has raided hedge funds Diamondback Capital Management LLC, Level Global Investors LP, and Loch Capital Management LLC, which has a close link to a witness who pleaded guilty in the insider…