Affinity Fraud

Annuity Loss Lawyer

Published on: August 1, 2023 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Should I Sue My Brokerage Firm Over My Colorado Bankers Life Insurance Losses?

Judge Orders Partial Payment to CB Life Annuity Investors

With tens of thousands of Colorado Bankers Life Insurance and Bankers Life Insurance investors owed hundreds of millions of dollars for the annuity policies they purchased, a superior court judge has ordered Colorado Bankers Life Insurance to pay them 25% of their policies—that is on 65,000 annuity contracts. Similar payments may also be decided for Bankers Life Insurance policyholders. While this order by the judge is in investors’ favor, as Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Senior Partner and annuity loss lawyer Kirk Smith explained in a recent Wall Street Journal article: investors should consider their legal options beyond the current bankruptcy, regulatory, and criminal proceedings if they want to maximize their chances for a full financial recovery.

Affinity Fraud

Published on: February 28, 2023 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

What Is Affinity Fraud and How Can It Lead To Investor Losses?

Getting a recommendation to work with a financial advisor from someone you know, especially if the latter and others in your community are also working with that registered broker or investment advisor, is one of the reasons that investors end up deciding to sign with a particular broker-dealer or RIA. If that financial professional is experienced and does a good job of protecting and growing your assets, then you are all set. However, should you end up working with someone unscrupulous, a type of broker misconduct involving what is known as affinity fraud can happen.

Affinity fraud is the term given to when a scammer targets members of an identifiable group. The fraudster might be part of the group (or perhaps even pretend to be a member) and/or share a cultural or ethnic affinity. Affinity fraud takes advantage of the trust and relationships within these groups. Not only that but because of said relationships, victims of affinity fraud may be reluctant to report any suspected financial exploitation.

“Pastors” Accused of $25M Ponzi Scam

Published on: April 15, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed fraud charges against two men claiming to be pastors of a church at a strip mall in Orange County, California. Kent R.E. Whitney and David Lee Parrish are accused of targeting members of their local Vietnamese community and defrauding investors of millions of dollars. The regulator has obtained an asset freeze in what it is calling a $25M Ponzi scam.

Whitney, who has a criminal fraud record, is the founder of The Church for the Healthy Self. The Commission said that he established the church three months after getting out of federal prison where he had been serving time for a different investment scam that had defrauded 10 investors of over $600K.

The regulator contends in its complaint that The Church for the Healthy Self’s investment program, called the CHS Trust, touted:

Radio Host Accused in $19.6M Texas Scam That Targeted Elderly Investors

Published on: March 18, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

William Neil Gallagher, a Dallas area-based radio host based who calls himself the “Money Doctor,” is now facing securities fraud charges accusing him and his companies, Gallagher Financial Group and W. Neil Gallagher, PhD Agency, Inc., of seeking to defraud older investors of their retirement money in a $19.6M Texas-based Ponzi scam/affinity fraud. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought the civil fraud charges against them.

According to the SEC’s complaint, from 12/2014 through 1/2019, Gallagher, who is based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, raised at least $19.6M (maybe even up to more than $29M) from about 60 elderly investors ranging in age from about 60 to the early 90’s. He allegedly did this through his companies in what the regulator is referring to as an “affinity fraud investment scam” that is also a Ponzi scheme.

Gallagher is accused of using his radio shows to target retired Christian investors, who were his radio audience, and to whom he ingratiated himself by often making religious references on his shows. He also allegedly urged radio listeners to call GFC to set up meetings, during which he would help them with their retirement plans and give them advice regarding how to make money without having to take on any risks.

Securities Fraud: Investment Manager is Accused of Bilking Retired Teacher of $950K, Ex-U. Va Football Player is on Trial in $9M, and Former Investment Adviser Pleads Guilty

Published on: August 16, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Wyoming Investment Manager Indicted for Allegedly Bilking Retired Investor
Tyris D. Maxey has been indicted on multiple counts of wire fraud and he was arrested this week. Maxey, a Wyoming investment manager, owns RB Mister Enterprises LLC. He allegedly convinced a retired school teacher to give him about $950K to invest and then using almost all of the funds on his own expenses.

Meantime, any investments he made with the investor’s money experienced “heavy losses.” Funds that he gave to the investor, which he claimed were returns, were actually the same funds that the teacher had given him to invest.

Maxey pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges of financial fraud.

Madoff Ponzi Scam Caused Investors to Pull $363B in Investments, Reports Study

Published on: August 9, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to a new study recently published in The Review of Financial Studies, the Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scam not only bilked over 10,000 investors of billions of dollars, but it also caused many in the investing public to stop trusting the financial industry. The study is called Trust Busting: The Effect of Fraud on Investor Behavior.

Researchers were able to track the impact of the Madoff fraud outside of the investors who were directly impacted because Madoff, who is Jewish, worked primarily with rich, older Jewish investors. Assistant Professor of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell Scott Yonker, who is a co-author of the study, describes the Madoff Ponzi Scam as an affinity scam in that it targeted investors who had similar backgrounds. That said, his victims included retail investors, wealthy investors, famous investors, celebrities, and various entities and financial funds.

The study found that once the Madoff Ponzi scheme became public knowledge, investors who either personally knew his victims or lived in the areas where his victims lived withdrew $363B from their financial advisers and placed their funds in banks instead—that’s almost 20 times more than the $17B that Madoff has been ordered to pay in restitution to his investors.

$70M Ponzi Scam Leads to 5-Year Prison Term for Texas Man Who Bilked Christian Investors in Affinity Fraud

Published on: June 16, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Stephen J. Hatch, the mastermind of a $70M Arizona Ponzi scam, has been sentenced to five years in prison. Hatch, who pleaded guilty to fraud, targeted Christian investors, causing many of them to lose their life savings.

As part of his plea deal, the Texas man agreed to pay back $1M to investors. Meantime, prosecutors agreed to not file criminal charges against Hatch’s children.

Many of his victims were family members and friends. Hatch persuaded 110 investors to back various real estate properties by promising double digit returns on land deals.

Securities Fraud Cases: Ponzi Scam Operator Sentenced to Prison, Fund Manager Pleads Guilty, Ex-Options Trading Instructor Allegedly Misappropriated Investor Funds, & $1.7M Financial Scam Leads to 10-Years Behind Bars

Published on: May 26, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

SEC Charges Man Accused of Running $10M Ponzi Scam
Mark Anderson Jones, whom the US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged with fraud, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison in a parallel criminal case. Jones pleaded guilty to running a $10M Ponzi scam.

According to the SEC, Jones solicited investors in a number of US states, as well as in Washington DC. He did this by issuing promissory notes, as well as providing personal guarantees to clients that were willing to invest in The Bridge Fund, which supposedly lent money to Jamaican businesses that were waiting to get commercial bank loans.

However, rather than investing their money the way he said he would, Jones used a portion of investors’ cash to pay his own expenses as well as make Ponzi payments.

Pastor Faces Affinity Fraud Charges Alleging that He Bilked Retirees, Church Members, & Laid-Off Auto Workers

Published on: March 30, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges against Larry Holley, a pastor with the Abundant Life Ministries in Flint, Michigan. According to the regulator, the pastor used faith-based verbiage to solicit investments from his targets in what he led them to believe was a successful real estate business with hundreds of commercial and residential properties. The SEC’s affinity fraud complaint said that Holley’s scam raised about $6.7M from over 80 investors who were promised high returns.

Holley allegedly held “Blessed Life Conferences” that were actually financial presentations at churches across the US. During these gatherings, he would ask congregants to disclose their financial holdings on cards he gave them to fill out and he promised to “pray over the cards.” He is said to have called investors “millionaires in the making.”

The SEC’s complaint also claims that Holley’s business associate, Patricia Enright Gray, targeted recently laid-off auto works who were given severance packages and she offered to consult with them to help grow their finances. She purportedly promised to roll over their retirement funds into tax-advantaged IRAS and invest their money in Treasure Enterprise, which was Holley’s company. She advertised her services on a religious radio station in Flint.

SEC Says Amish Investors Were Bilked in $3.9M Securities Fraud

Published on: November 17, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Earl D. Miller for securities fraud. According to the regulator, the Indiana man bilked investors, many of whom were Amish and new to investing, through private investment vehicles 5 Star Capital LLC and 5 Star Commercial LLC.

The SEC says Miller began recruiting investors last year. The private investment entities he created were supposed to invest in real estate property and green products with patents that one of the companies owned. However, claims the regulator, no patents were actually owned. Instead, contends the agency, the money went to companies that were supposedly developing other products, including energy-efficient washing machines and a pedal-run wheelchair. The bulk of these investments quickly failed. Most of the funds were invested in loans and were supposed to result in interest payments every month. However, such payments only were issued for five months and then they stopped completely.

Miller marketed his investment services in Amish newspapers and in Amish community meetings. He gave investors promissory notes for their money. The notes came with a fixed 8-12%/year return rate, which is a lot higher than the rates for other fixed-return investments, including bank deposits. He also purportedly said he was not paid any money for managing the fund even though he allegedly took $1M for his own spending. At least 70 investors were bilked.
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