Ponzi Scams

SEC Goes After Alleged Ponzi Scammers

Published on: November 15, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission is pursuing securities fraud charges against Wendy Ko and Yin Nan Wang and certain entities over their alleged involvement in a Ponzi-like scam. The regulator is asking for an asset freeze against Velocity Investment Group, its managed funds, and Rockwell Realty Management, Inc. These entities are controlled by Wang and Ko.

The SEC claims that the two of them offered and sold over $150 million securities as unsecured promissory notes through Velocity and its unregistered investment funds. The offerings promised a substantial investment return rate. That said, to fulfill these interest obligations the funds needed to make returns higher than the market average.

Wang purportedly ordered that an accountant be given financial information that included material overstatements of fund receivables. He also is accused of publishing false financial data on a website.

US Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument on the Impact of SLUSA on the Stanford Ponzi Scams

Published on: October 17, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Supreme Court has just listened to oral argument about how the Fifth Circuit appeals court interprets the breadth of the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act’s (SLUSA), which precludes the majority of state class action cases involving plaintiffs claiming misrepresentations related to the buying or selling of a security that it covers. The case stems from Allen Stanford’s $7B Ponzi scam, in which one of his banks put out certificates of deposit that were supposedly safe, liquid investments when, in reality, the investments did not exist. The bank used money from new CD sales to issue redemption payments and interest on older CDs.

Following the discovery of the Stanford securities shame, two sets of investors filed securities fraud cases in Louisiana court against several Stanford companies and employees contending law had been violated. The defendants got the cases sent to federal court.

The securities lawsuits were then sent to the Northern District of Texas, which threw out the fraud lawsuits on the grounds that SLUSA precluded them. That court said that the CDs weren’t covered but that the investors had alleged misrepresentations having to do with securities that were covered. The Stanford bank had claimed it invested in securities that were issued by multinational companies and solid governments and led investors to think investments SLUSA-covered securities at least partially backed the CDs. he Fifth Circuit then reversed that decision.

Securities Headlines: UBS to Pay $4.5M Over Unregistered Assistants, $6M Ponzi Scam Allegedly Funded Reality Show, & Cherry Picking Allegations Lead to SEC Charges

Published on: August 30, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

UBS Settles Unregistered Assistant Allegations for $4.5M

UBS AG (UBS) has agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle state regulator allegations that its assistants may not have been licensed in the states where they conducted business. The New Jersey Bureau of Securities, which led the securities case, contends that for about six years, the financial had “client service associations” that lacked the necessary state registrations take orders.

An unknown amount of unsolicited trades were reportedly involved in these transactions between 2004 through 2010 when UBS had about 2,277 sales assistants on staff. The fine will be divided between the 50 States, DC, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. By settling, the Zurich-based bank is not denying or admitting to the allegations. However, in late 2010 it modified its order-entry system so that employee state-registration statuses could be validated.

Two Investors’ Securities Fraud Lawsuit Against SEC Over Stanford Ponzi Scam is Dismissed

Published on: August 16, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A federal judge has dismissed the securities fraud lawsuit filed by two investors against the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to report that Allen Stanford was running a $7.2 billion Ponzi scam. According to U.S. District Judge Robert Scola, a Federal Tort Claims Act exemption that does not allow claims from deceit or misrepresentation shields the SEC from such a claim.

The plaintiffs are George Glantz and Carlos Zelaya. They contend that they collectively lost $1.6 million because of Stanford and they wanted class action securities status for investors that the latter bilked.

They argued that following four exams between 1997 and 2004 the regulator considered Stanford’s business a fraud yet did not notify the Securities Investor Protection Corp., which provides compensation to those victimized by brokerages that fail. The SEC did not sue Stanford until 2009. While Scola previously had allowed this securities fraud case against the Commission to move forward, finding that the regulator breached its duty to report Stanford’s wrongdoing, now, he says that the FTCA exemption does not give him jurisdiction over this.

Investors Claim They Lost $300M in Ohio Ponzi Fraud Lawsuit

Published on: August 10, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In Ohio, investors are suing Glen Galemmo for allegedly running a Ponzi scam. The securities fraud lawsuit claims that approximately 100 to 200 investors lost more than $300 million. Galemmo is now named in two complaints related to these claims. His wife, Kristine Galemmo, is also being sued, as are his business partner Edward Blackledge and numerous investment funds, LLC, and companies. Plaintiffs are grouped as the Galemmo Victims Fund I and II.

The Cincinnati money manager ran Galemmo Investment Group, Queen City Investment Fund, and other entities for over a year. However, last month, he sent out a mass email to investors explaining that Queen City Investments, which he owns, was stopping operations. He told them not to come to the building because they would not be let in and that his lawyer had told him to avoid contact with them. He said that their inquiries should go through the IRS.

According to the complaint, Galemmo claimed to have over $20 million in assets under management. When the S & P 500 was declining between ’06 and ’11 he purportedly said that he’d made earning returns of 432% by investing in individual stock.

Texas Securities Case: SEC Alleges Ponzi Scam Involving Virtual Currency Bitcoin

Published on: July 28, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Trendon Shavers and his company Bitcoin Savings & Trust, accusing the two of them of running a Ponzi scam involving Bitcoin. In its Texas securities fraud case, the regulator contends that Shavers offered and sold the denominated investments online with the use of the names “pirateat40” and “Pirate,” purportedly raising at least 700,000 Bitcoin in BTCST investments.

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that is traded on online exchanges. Based on its average price in 2011 and 2012 when Bitcoin was on the market, the virtual currency at issue was worth over $4.5 million. Today, their value is greater than $60 million.

The SEC believes that Shavers told customers they could make up to 7% weekly interest due to BTCST’s “Bitcoin market arbitrage activity,” when actually BTCST was a Ponzi scheme that involved Shavers using Bitcoin from new investors to cover purported investor withdrawals on outstanding investments and interest payments. He also allegedly used investors’ Bitcoin to engage in day trading in his account while trading in some of their Bitcoin for US dollars to cover his own expenses.

Courts Nationwide Dismiss More Securities Actions: Madoff Trustee’s Case, Equinox Investor’s Class Lawsuit, K-Sea Transportation Litigation, & Shareholder Derivative Complaint is Thrown Out

Published on: June 21, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Trustee Can’t Sue Investment Banks for Aiding Madoff Ponzi Scam

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that trustee Irving Picard cannot sue the investment banks accused of allegedly aiding and abetting the Madoff Ponzi scam for billions of dollars because the doctrine in pari delicto bars him. Per the doctrine, one wrongdoer can’t recover from another wrongdoer.

Picard sued UBS AG (UBS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), HSBC Bank plc, and UniCredit Bank Austria AG, claiming they disregarded warning signs of Madoff’s fraud as they received significant fees. Because Picard is now in “Madoff’s shoes” as the debtor’s representative of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, the court said that he cannot proceed with lawsuits against the parties that took part in the fraud.

Securities Criminal Roundup: Mail Fraud Charges Against Investment Company Owner, Ex-Bank of the Commonwealth Execs Convicted, Broker’s Elder Financial Fraud Sentence is Affirmed, and Ex-Fund President Goes to Prison for Ponzi Scam

Published on: June 7, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Flatiron Systems LLC Owner Pleads Guilty to Mail Fraud

In United States v. Howard, investment company owner David Eugene Howard has pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges. He is accused of engaging in a financial scam that obtained about $1.8 million from investors.

Prosecutors say that Howard, who owns Flatiron Systems, used operating agreements, letters, and account statements to make false representations that his company used a proprietary system named “Pathfinder” to trade pooled equity accounts. The Securities and Exchange Commission has submitted an enforcement action against Howard.

Texas Securities Roundup: $10M Ponzi Scheme, Foreign Note Sale Fraud, Promissory Note Scam, and Money Laundering Lead to Indictments, Criminal Sentences

Published on: May 21, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

$10M Texas Ponzi Scam Solicited Over 100 Investors

Austin resident Robert Roland Langguth is sentenced to four years in federal prison for running a $10 million Texas Ponzi scam that solicited over 100 investors to become involved in real and bogus construction projects and investments. Often, the money brought in would go toward supporting the 71-year-old’s extravagant lifestyle.

Monthly dividends paid to investors were actually payments from newer investors, which is typical for a Ponzi scam. Last year, Langguth pled guilty to money laundering and wire fraud charges. Aside from prison time, he will pay more than $10 million in restitution to investors that were defrauded.

Two Men Sentenced in Texas Securities Case Involving $30 Million Promissory Note Fraud that Bilked Investors Via Ponzi Scam

Published on: May 14, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In Harris County state District Court, two men have received prison terms of a decade each for running a Texas Ponzi scam that involved life insurance policy death benefits. Gregory F. Jablonski and Howard Glen Judah are accused of orchestrating a nearly $30M scam involving their National Life Settlements LLC, which sold securities that weren’t registered and which they falsely claimed were benefits-backed. Both of them pleaded guilty to selling an unregistered security and securities fraud.

Investors with National Life Settlements were paid using the money of new investors. The company made false promises, causing customers that they would get an 8-10% yearly return through the promissory notes. Active and retired state employees were among those targeted, and millions of dollars were taken from retirement plans and invested through the firm.

The National Life Settlements used insurance agents, many of whom did not have securities dealer licenses, as it sellers. The agents would go on to make $4M commissions.