Articles Posted in Private Placements

Some Investors Are Paying The Price for Conservation Easements As Regulation D Private Placements

Experienced Private Placement Investor Loss Lawyers Can Help

If you are an investor whose brokerage firm recommended that you invest in conservation easements as Regulation D private placements, and you’ve since been informed that you are in violation of tax laws, you will want to speak with skilled Private Placement Investor Loss Lawyer right away.

Broker Alan Douglass Unsuitably Overconcentrated Investor’s Funds in Non-Publicly Traded Products 

An investor based in Lutz, Florida has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against Securities America. This investor suffered losses in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other non-publicly traded investments. The claimant, who is a retiree, suffered up to $500K in investment losses, which he is seeking in damages.

Securities America broker, Alan Duane Douglass, was this claimant’s financial advisor. He not only unsuitably recommended private placements and real estate investment trusts (REITs) to this customer but also, overconcentrated the customer’s portfolio with these risky investments. 

Unsuitability Involving Private Placements Alleged

Our unsuitable investment fraud attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) are looking into customer complaints involving SagePoint Financial stockbroker, Christopher R. Bice. 

His BrokerCheck record shows a number of pending investment fraud claims including at least two customer disputes involving private placements. The claimants are collectively seeking over $2M in damages. Bice, a Greensboro, North Carolina broker, is also an investment advisor.

Claimant Alleges Overconcentration, Unsuitability, Failure to Supervise

A Portland, Oregon semi-retiree has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against Western International Securities, Inc. and is seeking up to $500K in damages. The investor contends that a former financial advisor from the firm overconcentrated most of her retirement funds in illiquid private placements and caused her significant financial losses. 

Our Portland investment fraud attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) are representing this claimant in her private placement fraud case against Western International Securities. 

State Lawsuits Come After SEC Complaint and FBI Arrests

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing GPB Capital Holdings along with five co-defendants for running a mass Ponzi scam.

The NY AG contends that the alternative asset firm and private equity fund manager, which is based in the state, defrauded investors throughout the US of over $700M. The complaint said that more than 1,400 of those victims were New Yorkers who invested over $150M.

Justice Department Files Parallel Criminal Charges Against GPB Capital’s David Gentile and Others

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed civil charges against GPB Capital Holdings CEO and owner David Gentile, ex-GPB managing partner Jeffrey Lash, Ascendant Capital owner Jeffry Schneider, and affiliated entities, including Ascendant Alternative Strategies, of defrauding 17,000 retail investors in a more than $1.7B in a Ponzi-like scam.

GPB Capital Holdings, an alternative asset firm that invests in auto dealerships and waste management, has been under investigation over Ponzi fraud allegations by the SEC, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and others for more than two years. Now, in a parallel case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has filed criminal charges indicting Gentile, Lash, and Schneider. If convicted, they could each spend up to two decades in prison.

Senior Investor Seeks up to $500K in Damages For Loss of Savings

A retiree from Texas has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against brokerage firm Calton & Associates over losses he suffered in GPB Capital Holdings private placements and other non-publicly traded products. This investor is seeking up to $500K in damages. Arbitrators in Dallas, Texas will hear his case.

At Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com), our Dallas securities fraud attorneys are representing this claimant in his fight to recover his losses.

Scottsdale, Arizona Investment Advisor Was Fired By Broker-Dealer Coastal Securities

Luke Michael Johnson, currently Managing Director for Prime Capital Investment Advisors in Paradise Valley in the Scottsdale area, is named in over a dozen pending disputes by investors seeking damages for losses they allegedly suffered while working with him. Johnson was also the president of Legend Capital Group and a former Capital Securities broker where he worked for seven years. 

There are 19 disclosures on his BrokerCheck record. The majority of these are investor claims, with a number of them requesting damages that are in the six- or seven-figures.

Ex-Concorde Investment Services Broker Allegedly Made Negligent Recommendations 

Robert Scott Smith, the President of Peregrine Private Capital in Newberg, Oregon, and a former Concorde Investment Services, is named in multiple Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claims by former customers that invested in GPB private placement funds at his recommendation. 

GPB Capital Holdings is accused of running a $1.8B Ponzi scam. Smith is one of a number of Concorde Investment Services brokers who sold this alternative asset firm’s private placements to customers. 

Former Customers of Boca Raton, Florida Financial Advisor Request $700K in Damages

Two investors have filed separate Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claims against Noble Capital Markets registered representative, Joseph Menachem Hain, also known as Joey Hain. Based in Boca Raton, Hain is the broker-dealer’s investment banking director. He also is the co-founder of the advisory firm, Intrinsic Value Partners

Hain has worked in the industry for 14 years. Other firms where he used to be a broker include Paulson Investment Company, Aegis Capital Corp., Westpark Capital, Tejas Securities Group, Wynston Hill Capital, and Robotti & Co. 

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