Securities Fraud

Retired San Antonio Spurs Star Tim Duncan’s Ex-Financial Adviser Pleads Guilty To Texas Securities Fraud

Published on: April 4, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In federal court in Texas, Charles Banks, the former financial adviser to ex-NBA star Tim Duncan, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Banks admitted to misleading Duncan into guaranteeing a $6M loan to a company that had financial connections to the ex-advisor.

Duncan, who retired from professional basketball in 2016, claims that he lost more than $20M through deals he was involved in because of Banks. The two first started working together in 1997 when Banks was employed with CSI Capital Management Inc. and Duncan was an NBA rookie. After Banks left the firm he continued working with Banks.

Banks encouraged Duncan to lend a company, Gameday Entertainment, $7.5M. The company then obtained a $6M bank loan using what Duncan contends was his forged signature. Banks was Gameday’s chairman at the time.

CFTC Cases: Ex-Citigroup Global Markets Traders Settle Spoofing Charges and Vision Financial Partners to Pay Over $6.5M in Off-Exchange Binary Options Fraud Case

Published on: March 31, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former Citigroup Global Markets Traders to Pay Penalties for Spoofing

Ex-Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (C) traders Jonathan Brims and Stephen Gola have settled spoofing charges that the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission brought against them. According to the regulator, the two men engaged in spoofing while trading for the firm, and they must now pay $200K and $350K in civil monetary penalties, respectively. They also are temporarily “banned from trading in futures markets.” Goal and Brims won’t be allowed to resume trading in the futures markets until six months after they’ve paid their penalties in full.

According to their respective orders, the two men engaged in spoofing, which involves making a bid or offer with the intention to cancel the bid or offer prior to execution of the bid. They did this over 1,000 times in different Chicago Mercantile Exchange US Treasury futures products. They would make offers or bids of at least 1,000 lots even though they planned to cancel the orders before they actually occurred.

The orders were made after another small offer or bid was made on the other side of the same market “or a correlated futures or cash market.” The CFTC said that the two men initiated the orders in order set up or increase an already existing imbalance in the order book. They purportedly canceled the orders after the smaller orders were filed or if they determined that there was too high a risk that their orders might actually go through.

Securities News: Deutsche Bank Unit Ordered to Pay $150M for Libor Rigging, FINRA Bars Broker Indicted in NY Pension Fund Scam, and Hedge Fund Manager Who Lost Investors’ Money In Madoff Ponzi Scam Commits Suicide

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

Judge Orders Deutsche Bank Subsidiary to Pay $150Mfor Libor Rigging
A federal judge is ordering Deutsche Bank Group Services, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank (DB), to pay $150M for its involvement in an interest rate manipulation scam. The London unit pleaded guilty last year to rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate benchmark.

The fine comes two years after Deutsche Bank settled Libor rigging allegations with US and British regulators for $2.5B. According to prosecutors, derivatives traders at the German bank and at other banks colluded together to manipulate LIBOR rates to preference their trading positions.

Libor rigging allegations are not the only claims that Deutsche Bank has been contending with. Recently, the German Bank reached a $7.2B settlement with the US DOJ over its part in the 2008 global financial crisis. Meantime, NY and British officials ordered Deutsche Bank to pay $630M in fines because of alleged money laundering that occurred in Russia.

Stronger Enforcement of Civil Penalties Act Seeks To Raise SEC Enforcement Penalties

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

A bipartisan bill introduced in the US Senate wants to let the US Securities and Exchange Commission order violators of securities laws to pay much higher sanctions. If turned into law, the legislation would allow the regulator impose up to $1M as a penalty on individuals for every violation of the most serious offenses. The per penalty violation maximum for financial firms would be raised to $10M.

Currently, individuals cannot be ordered to pay a more than $181,071 penalty and the maximum for firms is $905,353. The SEC would have the option of tripling the cap on the maximum for repeat offenders who have been held civilly or criminally liable for securities fraud within the last five years.

At the moment, the SEC can calculate penalties that are the equivalent of the gross amount that were the ill-gotten gains only if the case is heard in federal court. The regulator cannot do so if it deals with the case administratively. The bipartisan bill would allow the regulator to assess such penalties in-house.

Securities Fraud: RIA and Broker Will Go to Prison Over $15M Scam, Ohio Financial Adviser Pleads Guilty in Senior Financial Abuse Case, and SEC Wants Ex-Financial Investment Broker Barred

Published on: March 25, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Registered Investment Adviser and Broker Convicted in $15M Pump-and-Dump Scam
A federal jury has found Sheik F. Kahn, a Nevada RIA, and Christopher Cervino, a New Jersey broker, guilty of securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in an over $15M stock scam that targeted 100 investors. Kahn also was convicted of aggravated identity theft crimes and investment adviser fraud. Both she and Cervino were previously affiliated with New York-based firm Primary Capital.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the pump-and-dump scam involved VGTEL (VGTL), a publicly traded over-the-counter company. The securities scam was led by Edward Durante, who pleaded guilty last year to a number of crimes, including securities fraud, conspiracy, perjury, and money laundering involving VGTL.

Cervino and Kahn are accused of artificially inflating the stock price of VGTel from 25 cents/share to up to $1.90/share in 2012 and they also inflated trading volume, raising their ability to bring in private investments in the stock.

US Attorney’s Office Charges Two Ex-China Medical Technologies Executives in $400M Securities Fraud

Published on: March 20, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

China Medical Technologies Inc. founder and ex-CEO Xiaodong Wu and Ex-CFO Tak Yung Samson Tsang are charged with securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, and securities fraud conspiracy. The two men are accused of bilking the company’s noteholders and investors of over $400M. They are now fugitives and live in China.

Investors thought they were getting involved in a medical device company that was listed on NASDAQ. Funds were supposed to be invested in China Medical or used to buy back existing debt. However, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Tsang and Wu misrepresented how proceeds raised via two note offerings would be used and then stole investors’ money. They sent the funds to entities that they were either affiliated with or controlled.

The indictment said that between 1/2005 and 11/2012, Tsang, Wong, and a co-conspirator ran this securities scam and made material misrepresentations and omissions about the investments. To facilitate their fraud, the then-executives caused a China Medical outside auditor and independent director to step down, ceased issuing public disclosures about how material events were impacting security values, and stopped paying interest on the notes.

Wells Fargo Advisors Must Pay $357K Securities Arbitration Award Over Unsuitable Investments

Published on: March 13, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority securities arbitration panel ruled that Wells Fargo Advisors (WFC) must pay investor Anthony J. Pryor $357K related to purportedly unsuitable housing and energy investments. In his securities fraud claim, Pryor alleged negligent misrepresentation, negligent supervision, breach of fiduciary, and other causes. Wells Fargo denies Pryor’s allegations.

His advisor, Jeff Wilson, who was not named as a party in the securities arbitration case, has three customer disputes on his BrokerCheck record. One of the other claims that were settled for $250K also allegedly involving unsuitable investments.

Unsuitable Investments

Not every investment is suitable for every investor. Some investments may too be risky for certain investors or are not in alignment with their investment goals or financial needs. For example, many older retail investors that are about to retire will likely require a more conservative investment plan that a much younger, single investor.

Securities Fraud: Ex-BB & T Securities is Suspended Over Unauthorized Private Securities Sales, Fired Merrill Lynch Broker is Fined for Accepting Customer Gifts, Louisiana Investment Adviser is Convicted in $9.5M Scheme, & Jury Issues First Criminal Municipal Bond Issuance-Related Conviction

Published on: March 10, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

FINRA Suspends Broker For Accepting $105K in Gifts

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has suspended a former Merrill Lynch broker, Adam C. Smith, from the securities industry for a year. The former Merrill Lynch broker, who was fired from the firm, will pay a $10K fine.

According to the self-regulatory organization, while at Merrill Lynch, Smith and his wife accepted $26K in checks from a couple whom he represented. The money was to help fund the education of Smith’s children. When one of the clients passed away, the remaining spouse gifted Smith and his wife another $53K, again to pay for their kids’ education. Smith received $26K from other clients.

Although he is settling, the ex-Merrill Lynch broker is not denying or admitting to FINRA’s findings.

Securities News: Tax Reporting Mistake Costs Morgan Stanley $70M, SEC Accuses Trading Firm & Broker-Dealer of Manipulation, Layering Schemes, and RD Legal Capital’s Hedge Fund is Accused of Targeting Injured NFL Players & 9/11 Responders

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

Morgan Stanley Ordered to Pay $70M for Tax-Reporting Errors
In its yearly regulatory filing, Morgan Stanley (MS) announced that it took a $70M charge because of tax-reporting mistakes made by its brokerage business from ’11 to ’16. The firm is talking to the Internal Revenue Service to settle any client tax underpayments. Morgan Stanley said that some of its wealth management clients that may have overpaid taxes as a result of these errors and they would be paid back.

The firm also announced that it might sustain a $221.3M loss because of a lawsuit brought by Salzburg, the Austrian state, over commodities derivatives and fixed-income transactions between ’05 and ’12. Salzburg claims that Morgan Stanley did not having the authority or ability to make such deals—a contention that the latter disputes.

Trading Firm Accused of Manipulating US Markets
According to a complaint brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Avalon FA manipulated the US markets on hundreds of thousands of occasions, allegedly making over $21M in a layering scam. The regulator obtained an asset freeze against the Ukrainian trading company.

Defendants Convicted of Ponzi Scam That Touted Loans to Professional Athletes Are Sentenced to Prison

Published on: March 6, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Susan C. Daub and William D. Allen have each been sentenced to six years in prison for running a Ponzi scam that involved issuing loans to professional athletes. Allen, a former NFL player with the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots, and Daub have been both the subject of a criminal case and an Securities and Exchange Commission case over this matter.

The two of them were arrested in 2015 on criminal charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and charging money related to a specified illegal act. Along with their Capital Financial Partners Enterprises, Capital Financial Holdings, and Capital Financial Partners, the two of them raised nearly $32M from investors, who were told that they were providing loans professional athletes but would get back their money in full along with interest when the loans were repaid.

In its civil case, SEC said that Daub and Allen only advanced about $18M to the athletes even though they’d raised over $31M from investors. The regulator said that from 7/2012 through 2/2015, even though the defendants had only gotten back a little over $13M in loan repayments from the pro athletes, they paid back about $20M to investors by using investors’ funds to make up for the almost $7M deficit.