Attention Silver Star REIT Investors: Texas-Based REIT Files For Bankruptcy Again

Published on: June 23, 2026 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Our Non-Traded REIT Recovery Attorneys Are Here To Help You Explore Your Legal Options

Silver Star Properties (formerly Hartman Short Term Income Properties XX) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in four years, leaving retail investors facing a near-total loss of principal due to extensive defaults, asset sales, and executive infighting. To recoup their losses, affected investors are being urged to pursue legal action against the brokerage firms and financial advisors who may have negligently or unsuitably marketed the high-risk, non-traded REIT.

For the second time in four years, Silver Star Properties (formerly known as Hartman Short Term Income Properties XX, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. With $100M in assets, $75M in liabilities, multiple loans in default for more than $65M, and other financial woes, Silver Star REIT investors may be looking at serious losses.

Are You An Investor Who Suffered Losses in Lodging Fund REIT III?

Published on: May 28, 2026 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Wants To Talk To You

The law firm Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas is offering free case assessments to investors who suffered financial losses in Lodging Fund REIT III. The firm is investigating potential broker misconduct, fraud, and negligence related to the non-traded real estate investment trust, which has faced past SEC charges and risks like illiquidity.

Nearly three years after Lodging Fund REIT III’s CEO and advisor Legendary Capital REIT III paid over $4.7 million to resolve US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges accusing them of directing the non-traded real estate investment trust (non-traded REIT) to improperly pay back overhead costs, Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (investorlawyers.com) is continuing to speak with investors who suffered losses.

How to Recognize Elder Financial Abuse

Published on: October 25, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-LPL Financial Broker Bradley Goodbred Is In Trouble For Alleged $1.3M Elder Financial Abuse

How Senior Investors Can Pursue Damages Over Their Investment Losses

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently filed charges against former LPL Financial broker Bradley Allen Goodbred. The ex-Chicago financial advisor, who was barred from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in 2021 for not cooperating in the self-regulatory organization’s (SR0’s) probe, is accused of stealing $1.3M from an older client with dementia.

Ameriprise Financial to Pay $4.5M Over Alleged Failure to Protect Investors

Published on: August 15, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In a settlement reached with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP) will pay $4.5M over allegations that it did not protect retail investors from five of their financial representatives, who stole over $1.5M. Three of these individuals had previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges involving investor fraud.

The Commission charged Ameriprise, a registered investment adviser and brokerage firm, with inadequate supervision of the representatives and for not having policies and procedures that were “reasonably designed” enough to stop them from misappropriating clients’ monies.

Ameriprise, despite setting, is not denying or admitting to the regulator’s findings. However, it consented to a censure.

Securities Headlines: Ohio Financial Adviser Faces Criminal Charges, Petters Ponzi Scam Investors Still Waiting for Their Money, and FINRA Recommends Disciplinary Action Against Ex-Jefferies Bond Trader

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

Ohio Financial Adviser is Indicted in $15M Securities Fraud
Evolution Partners Wealth Management owner Larry Werbel has been indicted on criminal charges accusing him of involvement in a securities scam to bilk at least 100 investor of over $15M. Werbel recruited investors for shares of VgTel Inc. He and other brokers purportedly promised high dividends even though the shares were sold and purchased by companies belonging to the alleged scammers so that they could artificially inflate the share price.

According to prosecutors, over $9M of investor funds were pockets by the fraudsters. Werbel, who prosecutors say got investors to purchase $3M in VgTel shares, received over $300K in kickbacks.

He is charged with securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, investment adviser fraud, wire fraud, and making false statements to federal officers. Werbel claims he is innocent.

Meantime, the man accused of masterminding the securities scam, Edward Durante, was arrested in Germany and brought back to the US last month. He previously was convicted of securities fraud in 2011. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil case against Evolution Partners, Durante, and others.
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SEC Judge Orders Two Investment Advisers to Pay Over $6.3M Related to Bernard Madoff-Linked Hedge Funds

Published on: January 9, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge says that investment advisers Larry Grossman and Gregory Adams must pay over $6.3M in restitution and fines for misleading clients who invested in hedge funds tied to Ponzi fraud mastermind Bernie Madoff. Administrative law judge Brenda Murray issued her ruling last month.

The two investment advisers are Sovereign International Asset Management founder Larry Grossman and Gregory Adams, who agreed to buy Sovereign from Grossman in 2008. The firm filed for bankruptcy four years later.

Per the SEC administrative complaint, Grossman did not know that the two hedge funds that he primarily recommended to clients were linked to Madoff. The Commission contends that Grossman violated his fiduciary duties to his clients when he neglected to conduct due diligence on the funds, which were run by a man named Nickolai Battoo. Grossman also purportedly did not notify clients that he was getting paid $3.4 million in consulting fees and referral money for recommending certain funds. After Grossman sold Sovereign to Adams, the former owner continued working in several capacities at the firm and never actually told clients that the sale even happened.

FINRA Doesn’t Want Oversight Over Financial Advisers, Says CEO Ketchum

Published on: April 12, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority CEO Richard G. Ketchum, the regulator no longer wants to be given oversight over financial advisers. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Ketchum said the self-regulatory agency had done all it could to be granted authority over investment advisers and has decided to stop with additional attempts.

FINRA currently oversees brokers. Meantime, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the states oversee registered investment advisers. The SEC had been exploring having FINRA or another agency police RIAs instead. However, the majority of investment advisers were against such a move because of the way FINRA handles enforcement. They don’t think the regulator understands the way investment advisers operated.

Ketchum is now saying that Congress should give the SEC the resources it needs to enhance its examination program of advisers. The Commission has been asking for more money because it can only afford to examine investment advisor firms about once a decade, which isn’t much oversight at all.

OppenheimerFunds Increases Its Exposure to Puerto Rico Debt Despite Downgrade by Moody’s, S & P, and Fitch to Junk Status

Published on: February 14, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Even though Puerto Rico’s debt has been downgraded to “junk” status by the three major ratings agencies (Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch Ratings), OppenheimerFunds (OPY) has increased its holding of Puerto Rican debt in two of its municipal bond funds that carry lower risk. The credit raters downgraded the US Commonwealth over worries about its failing economy and decreased ability to finance its deficits in capital markets.

According to Reuters, Lipper Inc. says that at the end of last year, the Oppenheimer Rochester Short-Term Municipal Fund’s (ORSCX) exposure to Puerto Rico’s debt had risen 13% from a year ago, while its Intermediate-Term Municipal Fund more than doubled its exposure to 17%. (Details of the holdings in both funds since then are still unavailable.) Both have a 5% limit on how much junk-rated debt they can contain. However, because the US territory’s debt was downgraded after the buys were made, Oppenheimer, which is part of MassMutual Financial Group, may not obligated to unload the assets.

The company has continued to support Puerto Rico municipal bonds, even as a lot of other mutual fund firms have lowered their exposure to Puerto Rico debt. This week, Oppenheimer downplayed the investment risk involved, noting that most bonds involved are insured (Reuters reports that 27% of the holdings in the intermediate-fund and another 4% in the short-term fund, do not have insurance).

Advisors in the Spotlight: Ex-SAC Capital’s Martoma on Trial for $276M Insider Trading Scam, Financial Industry Recruiters Say LinkedIn Hurts Their Business, & A Fugitive Bank Director Wanted for Securities Fraud is Arrested

Published on: January 18, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former SAC Capital Portfolio Manager Mathew Martoma On Trial for Securities Fraud

Mathew Martoma, the ex-SAC Capital Advisors portfolio manager accused in the insider trading scam that involved $276 million in Wyeth and Elan stocks, is now on trial. Martoma allegedly used tips from a doctor involved in Alzheimer drug trials. The government says that due to the information SAC liquidated a $700 million position and sold its stocks in the firms, which allowed it to make money while avoiding losses.

In court this week, one doctor testified that he was surprised that Martoma knew so much about the results of a clinic trial before they were publicly disclosed. Already, prosecutors have filed charges against 83 people and four SAC entities over what the US is calling the largest illegal trade in our nation’s history. There have been several convictions.

Former Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC Employee Faces SEC Charges for Creating Fake Trades to Enable Ponzi Scam

Published on: November 23, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

David Kugel, who was a long time Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BMIS), has been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud. Kugel is accused of making fake trades to keep Madoff’s multi-billion dollar Ponzi scam running. He has consented to settling the securities fraud charges.

The SEC claims that Kugel, who worked for Madoff for nearly 40 years, was asked by the Ponzi mastermind to turn backdated arbitrage trade information into fake trades. Kugel’s own BMIS account included backdated trades. While some of the trades imitated successful ondx made by Kugel for BMIS, others were founded on historical facts that he got from old newspapers.

Over a number of years Kugel even withdrew almost $10 million in profits from these bogus trades in his own BMIS. SEC New York Regional Office George S. Canellos claims that Kugel knew such profits were fake.

Two other people accused of setting up fake trades from the information that Kugel provided were Joann Crupi and Annette Bongiorno. Both allegedly asked him for backdated data about trades that added up to millions of dollars. They would then take the information and design trades that equaled those figures. These bogus trades showed up as trade confirmations on investors’ account statements.

The SEC filed securities charges against the two women last year. The Commission claims that Bongiorno regularly set up bogus books and records and misled investors via phone calls, trade confirmations, and account statements. She also is accused of setting up false trades in her own BMIS counts that allowed her to cash out millions of dollars more than what was put in. Meantime, Crupi was accused of deciding what accounts to cash out and which investors should receive checks as Madoff’s scam stood on the brink of collapse. The two women are facing criminal charges over their alleged involvement. They have denied any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors have filed parallel criminal charges against Kugel. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to six criminal counts, including securities fraud, conspiracy, and bank fraud. He will be sentenced in May.

Meantime, Irving Picard, who has been appointed as the trustee in charge of helping Madoff’s Ponzi victims from recouping their losses, is seeking at least $22.2 million from Kugel and his family.

Ponzi Scams
A Ponzi scheme can be described as a multi-level marketing operation. The director solicits investments while promising clients a given return rate. However, rather than paying investors from real profits, the principal from new investors is used to compensate earlier investors. Ponzi scams can result in devastating losses for investors once the money dries up.

SEC Charges Longtime Madoff Employee With Creating Fake Trades, SEC, November 21, 2011
Read the SEC Complaint (PDF)

Bernie Madoff Cronies Arrested, ABC News, November 18, 2010
More Blog Posts:
SEC Files Charges in $27M Washington DC Ponzi Scam, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, November 21, 2011
Former Texan and First Capital Savings and Loan To Pay $4.5M for Alleged Foreign Currency Ponzi Scheme, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, November 11, 2011
SEC Issues Emergency Order to Stop $26M “Green” Ponzi Scam, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, October 13, 2011 Continue Reading ›