Investor Lawyers Blog

Investor Fraud Crimes: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager and Investment Advisor Sentenced

Published on: April 10, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Raymond Montoya, a former Boston hedge fund manager, is sentenced to 14 years in prison. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Montoya, 70, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, and charging an unlawful monetary transaction after the government accused him of deceiving investors of his RMA Strategy Opportunity Fund and costing them more than $30M.

The ex-hedge fund manager and owner of Research Magnate Advisors admitted to stealing money to support his luxury lifestyle. Some of his victims were his own friends and relatives.

Investors in the RMA Strategy Opportunity Fund were under the impression that the fund held more money than it actually did. Meanwhile, Montoya falsely touted possession of proprietary software that could help make wise investment choices involving bonds and stocks and would supposedly lead to returns. The investor fraud went on from at least 2009 to about mid-2017, which is when Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin brought a civil fraud case against Montoya.

Texas Man Pleads Guilty In $360M Ponzi Scam

Published on: April 8, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Cameron Jezierski, a Texas resident, has pleaded guilty to charges tying him to a Ponzi scam that defrauded over 400 investors of $360M. Jezierski and two other men, Jay Ledford, also of Texas, and Kevin Merrill were indicted last year for money laundering, identity theft, wire fraud, and conspiracy.

They allegedly persuaded investors to buy consumer debt portfolios that had defaulted by claiming that money could be made either through collecting on the debts or by selling the portfolios to third-party debt buyers. The investors who were harmed included restaurateurs, small business owners, retirees, construction workers, financial advisers, professional athletes, and other working professionals. However, instead of investing the money as promised, the three men allegedly used most of the funds on their lavish lifestyles or to pay earlier investors in a Ponzi scam-like fashion.

In the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) investor fraud case against the three men, which was brought last year, the regulator’s complaint said that of the money raised by investors, more than $90M came from over 200 individual investors, almost $203M was from feeder funds made up mostly of individual investors, and $52M came from family offices.

Latest SEC Whistleblower Award is $50 Million | Securities Fraud Attorney

Published on: April 5, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has awarded $50M to two individuals who acted as whistleblowers, helping the regulator to render a successful enforcement action because of the quality information they provided. Details of the enforcement action and the identity of the whistleblowers are not disclosed so as to protect their identities. However, the SEC did announce that one of the whistleblower awards is for $37M and the other is for $13M.

The SEC awards individuals that voluntarily share unique, credible, timely, and relevant information that then leads to a successful enforcement action when the resulting monetary sanctions imposed is more than $1M. 10-30% of that may then be awarded to the SEC whistleblower , or in some case, the whistleblowers.

Since the inception of the SEC whistleblower program in 2012, the regulator has awarded 61 individuals about $376M. All whistleblower awards come out of an investor protection fund set up by Congress. Money in the funds come out of monetary sanctions that have been paid to the Commission. Whistleblower awards are never taken out of any funds that investors who sustained losses from fraud might be able to recover.

Sweetwater Investments Plead Guilty To $3M Investor Fraud

Published on: April 4, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Dennis Gibb, an investment adviser and the owner/president of Sweetwater Investments Inc., has pleaded guilty to falsification of records and wire fraud. Gibb has also settled parallel civil charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in which part of that deal involves the liquidation of his Sweetwater Income Flood LP Fund.

Gibb set up the private fund in 2008. The year before, he started to solicit prospective investors who were looking for consistent retirement money. The SEC said that between those two years, at least 15 investors put approximately $7.3M in the Sweetwater Income Flood fund.

According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, Gibb defrauded about 15 investors of over $3M. He touted a sophisticated investment approach that in part involved investing in government bonds with the intent to generate “stable returns.” Meantime, even as Gibb stole investors’ money for his own use, he was telling them that the private fund had $7.8M when, in actuality, it was holding less than $2M.

Unregistered Investment Adviser Accused in $29M Ponzi Scam

Published on: April 3, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Carol Ann Pederson, an unregistered investment advisor and an ex-CPA, is facing charges accusing her of defrauding more than two dozen investors. The US Securities and Exchange Commission claims that Pederson:

Raised at least $29M from investors.
Made false promises that their money would go into “federally guaranteed securities.”

Investor Alert! Beware of Losses from the UBS Yield Enhancement Strategy

Published on: April 1, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Investors in supposed “Yield Enhancement” strategies are learning that the purported safe investment program has significant risk. The Yield Enhancement Strategy (YES) that UBS Financial Services, Inc. (UBS) and other brokerage firms used was marketed as a “safe and efficient” way to enhance the return on a conservative portfolio.

The YES program was represented as an investment program that involved using options strategies that produced small returns but with small risks. UBS is one of a number of brokerage firms that touted the YES approach to customers as a way to make money via the “strategic” buying and selling of SPX index options spreads. The returns were purportedly “incremental” to “underlying asset returns” while giving clients a chance to possibly make money from low yield assets.

Seeking Alpha reports that the brokerage firm told clients that their UBS Yield Enhancement Strategy involved allowing a “mandate” or margin to be placed against their respective portfolios and that this would then be used, via an “iron condor” options trading strategy, to generate returns. It was these particular investors that have sustained the greatest losses when excessive volatility in December—the most that the market has encountered in 30 years—caused the YES strategy to fall.

Ex-UBS Puerto Rico Broker is Sentenced to Prison

Published on: March 29, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Jose G. Ramirez-Arone Jr., who formerly worked as a broker for UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico (UBS-PR), has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for defrauding investors. Ramirez-Arone, also called Jose Ramirez and known by many on the island of Puerto Rico as “The Whopper,” pleaded guilty to bank fraud last year.

Ramirez admitted that he made more than $1.2 million in improper commissions by persuading clients to inappropriately invest in UBS Puerto Rico Bond Funds. More specifically, Ramirez admitted to participating in a scheme where he advised his clients to borrow money against their investments from a credit line at UBS Bank and then to use that borrowed money to buy more UBS Puerto Rico Bond Funds. This use of “non-purpose” loans to buy securities was strictly prohibited.

Unfortunately, in addition to being a prohibited transaction, this type of investing – where leverage is used to buy an already leveraged investment product – is unsuitable for most investors. The vast majority, if not all, of these investors were ill-equipped and unable to handle the risks involved, which they are now claiming were misrepresented or not fully disclosed to them. When Puerto Rico bonds and closed-end bond funds plunged in value in 2013, many UBS clients ended up having to sell their investments because they lacked the assets to satisfy maintenance calls on their accounts, resulting in massive losses for some.

Family Files $18M Investor Fraud Lawsuit Against Securities America Alleging Broker Fraud

Published on: March 27, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Jamieson family has filed a broker-dealer fraud lawsuit against Securities America. They are seeking $18M in damages related to the actions of one of the firm’s former brokers, Hector A. May, who late last year pleaded guilty to operating an $11M Ponzi scheme that went on for years. May now faces 25 years in prison. Securities America fired him last year in the wake of the fraud allegations against him.

Last month, the Jamieson family sued May and Securities America. They claim that they lost $18M from working with May, who had been their adviser since 2001. The family contends that the former Securities America broker and his daughter Vania May Bell stole millions of dollars from them. In addition to working as a Securities America broker, May also was president and CCO of Executive Compensation Planners Inc. (ECP), which is no longer in operation. Bell served as ECP’s controller.

The plaintiffs contend that May and Bell advised them in a manner that made it possible for the two of them to keep defrauding the family. The Jamiesons are accusing Securities America of not performing its duties by:

The FBI and NY Regulators Raid GPB Capital Holdings’ Trash Hauling Company

Published on: March 26, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Just days after InvestmentNews reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is now investigating alternative investment management firm GPB Capital Holdings, ProPublica is reporting that the FBI and regulators from New York City’s Business Integrity Commission (BIC) have raided the corporate offices of GPB Waste NY, which is the private trash hauling company once known as Five Star Carting that GPB Capital Holdings acquired in 2017. The raid reportedly involved a search warrant from the US Attorney’s Office to gather materials.

Aside from the FBI, GPB Capital Holdings is already under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the New Jersey Bureau of Securities, and Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who is investigating more than 60 brokerage firms that sold GPB Capital Holdings-related private placements to investors. However, public filings submitted to the SEC note that there were about 80 brokerage firms in the US at least authorized to sell investments to clients on behalf of GPB.

GPB Capital Holdings primarily invests in auto dealerships. However, it also purchases private trash hauling companies. NYC’s BIC is responsible for looking into possible misconduct or corruption involving the private trash industry in the city. Five Star, according to ProPublica, had previously dealt with a “troubled labor and safety record,” including government inspections that found that the company used unsafe trucks.

NorthStar Healthcare REIT Investors Suffer Losses as Income Distributions Are Suspended

Published on: March 22, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

If you are an investor in NorthStar Healthcare Income, you very likely received a letter last month notifying you that monthly distributions from this investment have been suspended. According to NorthStar’s board, the publicly registered nontraded real estate investment trust’s (nontraded REIT) portfolio has been undergoing “operational and performance challenges” that as of the end of June 2017 has resulted in a “lower estimated value/share” of the NorthStar Healthcare’s common stock. The nontraded REIT has since determined that in order to protect both capital and its financial state, suspension of these distribution payments is necessary.

The NorthStar Healthcare Inc. nontraded REIT was set up to originate, acquire, and oversee healthcare industry-related investments, including debt, equity, and securities investments involving healthcare real estate. Sources note that between 2013 and 2018, it raised about $2B and set up a portfolio involving more than 650 properties.

However, NorthStar Healthcare Income began reducing distribution rates in December 2017. By October of last year, it had notified investors that it would only buy back shares from an investor if qualifying disability or death were factors. In December 2018, the nontraded REIT reduced its net asset value from $8.50/share to $7.10/share. Now, with the distribution suspension, some investors are standing to lose not just their monthly distributions, but also they could see a substantial decline in value on their principal that they originally invested.