Broker Fraud

Former LPL Financial Adviser/North Carolina Broker Is Sentenced in $1.4M Ponzi Scam

Published on: December 14, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Charles Caleb Fackrell is sentenced 63 months behind bars and three years of court supervision. The 36-year-old former North Carolina financial adviser, who worked with LPL Financial (LPLA), pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud earlier this year. He now must pay his victims nearly $820K in restitution.

According to court documents, Fackrell ran an investment scam from approximately 5/2012 to 12/2014. During this time, he solicited about $1.4M from at least 20 investors. The companies he ran included Robin Hood LLC, Robin Hood Holdings LLC, Robinhood LLC, and Robinhood Holdings LLC.

Prosecutors contend that instead of using investors’ money as intended, Fackrell enriched himself in what North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall has described as “one of the most vicious financial crimes” the state has seen.

Massachusetts Regulator Accuses Broker-Dealers of Not Properly Supervising Rogue Brokers

Published on: December 9, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to the Massachusetts Securities Division, brokerage firms that hire brokers with troubled disciplinary records are not doing a proper job of supervising them. The state, which recently released its findings from its examination of 241 broker-dealers who are registered in the state and retain an above average number of rogue brokers, said that this relaxed way of self-policing could be harming investors.

According to the division’s report, not a lot of these brokers were put on more rigorous supervision despite their questionable pasts. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin said that it appeared to his office that certain firms were not willing to take on the duty of “zealously monitoring” the way these brokers were interacting customers.

It was in June that the Massachusetts Securities Division announced it was cracking down on broker-dealers who hired rogue brokers. The news of its sweep came soon after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced it was conducting its own probe.

Broker Fraud Cases: Former Newbridge Securities Broker Pleads Guilty in $131 Market Manipulation Scheme and FINRA Bars LPL Financial Broker for Depositing Client Funds Into His Own Account, and Lincoln Financial Securities is Fined $650K for Not Protecting Client Information

Published on: November 17, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Newbridge Securities Broker Involved in $131M Fraud Pleads Guilty
Gerald Cocuzzo, has pleaded guilty to securities fraud related to his involvement in a $131M market manipulation scam involving Forcefield Energy Inc. (FNRG). According to the U.S. Justice Department, between 1/2009 and 4/2015, Cocuzzo and others sought to bilk investors in the publicly traded company that globally distributes and provides LED lighting products. They did this by artificially manipulating the volume and price of the shares that were traded.

Meantime, Cocuzzo received kickbacks for buying Forcefield stock in his clients’ brokerage accounts. He did not tell the customers that he was receiving these payments. Instead, he and several others sought to hide their involvement.

Newbridge Securities fired Cocuzzo earlier this year following the federal indictment. Before working at Newbridge, he was registered with IAA Financial, previously called CBG Financial Group Inc.

FINRA Actions: Former UBS Broker Is Barred for Overvaluing Customer’s Account by Up to $3M, Ex-Broker Allegedly Stole $400K From Parents, Wells Fargo Adviser is Suspended After Client is Victimized in Phishing Scam, and Former Stifel Broker is Accused of Unauthorized Payments

Published on: October 15, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-UBS Broker is Accused of Inflating Customer’s Account

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has barred Jeffrey Hamilton Howell from the broker-dealer industry. The former broker is accused of giving a customer bogus weekly account statements that overvalued an account by up to $3M. The alleged misconduct is said to have occurred between 9/2008 and 11/2014.

According to FINRA, Howell sent the customer over 300 Stock Tracking Reports that misstated the client’s portfolio in amounts ranging from $289K to approximately $3M. He purportedly used his personal e-mail to send the customer some of the fake reports. This left UBS with records and books that were not accurate.

Texas Securities Cases: IMS Securities to Pay $100K Over Variable Annuity Exchanges, State Regulator Bans Broker from Making Nontraded REIT Recommendations, and Former Dallas Billionaire Sam Wyly to Pay $198M To Settle Fraud Case

Published on: October 10, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Texas-Based Brokerage Firm Accused of Inadequate Supervision Involving VA Exchanges

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is ordering IMS Securities Inc. to pay a $100K fine. The Texas-based brokerage firm is accused of failures related to its monitoring of variable annuity exchanges. By settling, however, it is not denying or admitting to the allegations.

According to the self-regulatory authority, the firm exhibited inadequate supervisory procedures for “problematic rates of exchange” in transactions involving variable annuities. FINRA claims that from 7/ 15/13 through 7/8/14, IMS Securities depended on its CFO to review annuity exchanges but did not provide tools or guidance to help look for “problematic rates of exchange.” The broker-dealer is accused of not probing possibly “problematic patterns” of VA exchanges and not enforcing written supervisory procedures related to consolidated reports.

Securities Cases: Hawaii-Based Investment Adviser is Accused of Cherry-Picking Trades, Broker Ordered to Pay $600K for Elder Financial Fraud, and FINRA Bars Ex-Axa Advisors Broker

Published on: October 6, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

SEC Charges Hawaii-Based Investment Adviser for Misleading Clients and Cherry Picking

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against Oracle Investment Research, which is based in Hawaii, and its owner Laurence I. Balter. The regulator claims that the investment adviser cherry picked trades that were profitable for his own accounts. He is also accused is misleading clients, including senior citizens, about the risks involved in the investments he recommended, as well as about the fees they would be charged.

According to the SEC Enforcement Division, Balter and Oracle Investment Research bought options and equities in an omnibus account but waited to distribute the trades until their execution. Then, he would allegedly move the profitable trades into his accounts and the unprofitable ones to the accounts of clients.

Morgan Stanley Charged by Massachusetts for Running Allegedly Unethical Sales Contests

Published on: October 3, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Massachusetts claims that Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MS) ran a high-pressure sales contest to give its financial advisers incentive to get clients to borrow funds against their brokerage accounts. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin filed the complaint against the firm.

According to the state, from 1/14 through 4/15, Morgan Stanley conducted two contests in Rhode Island and Massachusetts that involved 30 advisers. The object of the contests were to convince customers to take out loans that were securities-based. It involved them borrowing against the value of securities found in their portfolio. The securities were to be collateral.

Galvin’s office said that the contests urged Morgan Stanley advisers to cross-sell loans that were backed by investment accounts in order to enhance lending business, as well as banking, and stay competitive with other firms. Galvin claims that advisers were told to get clients to establish credit lines even if they had no plans of using them. The state’s complaint said that clients would be targeted after they’d mention certain key “catalysts” including graduations, weddings, and tax liabilities.

SEC Accuses Pennsylvania Broker of $3.2M Securities Fraud Involving 120 Investors

Published on: September 29, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

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 the ex-broker’s “extreme recklessness.”

At the time, Kohli was CEO and president of DMS Advisors, a dually-registered investment adviser and brokerage firm. He began the DMS Funds series, comprised of four emerging market mutual funds, in 2012. The SEC claims that he overstated the funds’ level of sophistication while disregarding the risk that he and DMS Advisors might not be able to cover certain expenses.

The Commission claims that Kohli stole money from investors as the funds became beleaguered and he committed three other frauds to keep his scam going. He also purportedly misappropriated money he solicited to invest in one of the funds and his accused of drawing in two kinds of investments in Marshad Capital Group, which was DMS advisors’ holding company.

Securities Regulator News: NASAA Offers Guide to Protecting Senior Investors and other Vulnerable Adults, States Disclose 2015 Enforcement Statistics, and SEC to Scrutinize Firms With Rogue Brokers

Published on: September 12, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

NASAA Puts Out Practices and Procedures Guide to Protect Vulnerable Adults

The North American Securities Administrators Association has issued a guide to help investment advisory firms and broker-dealers create procedures and practices to help them identify and tackle suspected incidents of financial exploitation involving vulnerable adult clients, including senior investors and adults with diminished capacity. The guide provides steps that revolve around five key concepts:

Identifying who is a vulnerable individual
Governmental reporting
Third-party reporting
Delaying disbursement from the account of a client who is a vulnerable adult
Ongoing regulator cooperation when a disbursement is delayed or a report of suspected financial exploitation is made.

It was just recently that NASAA put into effect its Model Act to Protect Vulnerable Adults from Financial Exploitation and this guide is a companion to the act.

If you are an elderly investor or a vulnerable adult who has suffered losses due to fraud, call our senior financial fraud law firm today.

FINRA Files Securities Fraud Charges Against NY Broker For Churning Accounts of Blind, 77-Year-Old Widow

Published on: August 1, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has filed a securities fraud case against Hank Mark Werner. The self-regulatory organization is accusing the New York broker of churning the account of a 77-year old widow who is blind, and engaging in unsuitable and excessive trading involving her account. FINRA claims that Werner charged the elderly customer over 243K in commissions while he churned her accounts for over three years and caused her to sustain about $184K in losses.

According to FINRA, Werner, who had been the broker of the elderly widow’s husband since 1995, until he passed away four years ago, started aggressively trading her accounts after he died. The SRO claims that Werner did this to earn excessive commissions.

From 10/12 to 10/15, Werner placed more than 700 trades in over 200 securities while charging the elderly customer commission or a markup on every sale and purchase. Because she was seriously debilitated, blind, and needed in-home care, the woman was totally dependent on Werner to let her know how her account was doing.