Investor Lawyers Blog

U.S. First Court of Appeals Reverses Lower Court and Rules that Puerto Rico Bondholders Have a Valid Claim on Pension Fund Assets

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

The First Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court ruling from the lower court over whether bondholders of nearly $3 billion of debt issued by Puerto Rico’s Employees Retirement System (ERS) have a claim on the pension fund’s assets. The pension fund is designated for the island’s public employees.

In 2008, the ERS issued roughly $3 billion in bonds that were sold as having a first lien on all assets of the ERS system, including future governmental deposit. These types of bonds are issued by many pension funds to cover pension shortfalls and are commonly known as Pension Obligation Bonds, or POBs.

The original pension fund lawsuit was brought after the island’s government passed legislation that would allow the government to pay retirees the pension obligation they were owed from Puerto Rico’s general fund, rather than through payments to the ERS. The territory’s pension system, confronted with an almost 100% funding shortfall, had liquidated all cash assets.

Retirement Losses: First Allied Securities and Financial Adviser to Pay Retirees Over $1.6M for Investment Advice, MetLife to Pay Another $189M to Individuals Owed Pensions, and Duke University Will Pay Over $10M to Settles Lawsuits Alleging ERISA Violations

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

Investors Alleging Negligence and Mishandling of Their Retirement Funds Win FINRA Case

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) panel arbitration is ordering First Allied Securities and financial adviser Larry Glenn Boggs to pay claimants and early retirees Nita and Mike Snow over $578K in compensatory damages, $500,000 in punitive damages, $350K in attorney’s fees, and $60K in other costs related to losses they sustained. Boggs had worked with the Snows on their early retirement plan, which included investing in the Sun America Life-issued variable annuity the Polaris Advantage II and other investments.

In their securities arbitration claim, the Snows sought compensation from Boggs, First Allied Securities, First Allied Advisory Securities, and American Retirement Solutions of Louisiana, LLC. All of them denied wrongdoing.

Investor Fraud: Quest Capital Strategies Must Pay Investor $276K in Woodbridge Ponzi Fraud, FINRA Warns Firms About Recommending Unsuitable 529 Plan Share Classes, and Ex-Ameritas Broker is Barred from the Securities Industry

Published on: January 31, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Investor Awarded $276K in Woodbridge Ponzi Fraud

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel has awarded more than $276K to an investor that lost money in the $1.2B Woodbridge Ponzi scam. The panel found that Quest Capital Strategies did not properly supervise former broker Frank Dietrich, who sold $400K of Woodbridge-sponsored mortgage notes to the investor.

According to InvestmentNews, Dietrich sold $10.8M of Woodbridge mortgage funds to 58 investors, making nearly $261K in commissions. He retired in March. In November, FINRA barred him after finding that the former broker did not obtain Quest’s approval to sell the notes.

Woodbridge and Its Ex-Owner Must Pay $1B Over Alleged Ponzi Scam

Published on: January 30, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A federal court has ordered the Woodbridge Group of Companies and its former CEO and owner Robert H. Shapiro to pay $1B in disgorgement and penalties for allegedly running a $1.2B Ponzi scam that victimized 8,400 retail investors, including many senior investors who ended up losing their retirement money. Of this $1B, Woodbridge and its 281 related companies must pay $892M in disgorgement. Shapiro must disgorge $18.5M in ill-gotten gains, as well as pay $2.1 in prejudgment interest and a $100M civil penalty.

In 2017, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against Woodbridge, which it called a “group of unregistered investment companies,” and other defendants. The regulator contends that Woodbridge claimed that its main business was to issue loans to third-party commercial property owners. The defendant allegedly promised investors 5-10% in interest yearly. The company’s marketing materials touted an “over 90% renewal rate” from investors because of “proven results.”

The SEC said that the reality was that most of these supposed third-party borrowers were, in fact, companies that Shapiro owned. They purportedly made no income and did not pay interest on any of these supposed loans.

Criminal Securities Fraud: Another Ex-Wilmington Trust Executive Gets His Prison Term, Former Rock Capital Trader in $13.7M Fake Profits Scam to Serve 5-Year Sentence, and Ex-NJ Financial Adviser Who Defrauded Customers Waits for Jury Verdict

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

Ex-Wilmington Trust VP is Sentenced to 21-Months for Bank Fraud

A federal judge has sentenced Joseph Terranova, a Former Wilmington Trust Corp. VP and commercial real estate manager, to 21 months in prison. Terranova’s sentence comes almost five years after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud related to a securities fraud that involved hiding from investors and regulators that commercial real estate loans that were past due.

Terranova is one of several Wilmington Trust executive to receive a sentence for the bank fraud, which involved fraudulent actions to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in delinquent loans. When the bank’s debt burden became public knowledge, it almost failed and was sold at a severely reduced price to M & T Bank Corp. in 2011. Meantime, bank stockholders sustained serious losses.

Texas Real Estate Developer Faces SEC Charges Over Alleged Multimillion-Dollar Ponzi Scam

Published on: January 28, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against Phillip Michael Carter, Bobby Eugene Guess, Richard Tilford, and several entities accusing them of operating a multi-million dollar offering fraud. The regulator contends that the three men raised nearly $45 million from more than 270 investors in the US through the sale of high-yield, short-term promissory notes that were touted to prospective buyers as low-risk.

According to the SEC, investors thought they were getting involved in actual real estate development companies but instead ended up buying securities from entities with no assets. Carter, who is the principal of North Forty Development LLC and Texas Cash Cow Investments, is accused of then misappropriating $1.2M in investor funds for his own expenses, including a personal IRS tax lien and to operate a luxury hunting ranch. He also allegedly made over $3M in Ponzi payments that were issued to investors.

Now, the defendants are accused of offering and selling unregistered securities, violating the Exchange Act and the Securities Act, and acting as unlicensed brokers. The entities that are relief defendants in the case include:

Ex- Financial Adviser Peggy Fulford is Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Defrauding Professional Athletes

Published on: January 25, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas recently announced that District Court Judge Keith P. Ellison has sentenced former financial adviser Peggy Ann Fulford to 120 months in prison—that’s 10 years. Fulford defrauded a number of professional athletes, including ex-NBA basketball players Dennis Rodman and Travis Best, former Heisman trough winner Ricky Williams, as well as NFL football players Lex Hilliard and Ricky Williams, of millions of dollars. The former broker, who is from Houston and was based out of New Orleans, pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property in 2018.

Fulford, who also used the last names King, Williams, Simpson, Rivers, and Barard as her aliases, along with the names Devon Cole and Devin Barard, admitted that she falsely told her former clients that she had degrees from Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, as well as that she had made millions of dollars on Wall Street. She told her victims that they didn’t need to pay her a fee because she was already wealthy and just wanted to help them protect their funds.

Instead, Fulford, who was supposed to manage their money and pay their bills for them, diverted millions of dollars to support her own lavish spending habits. Even after pleading guilty and while out on bond in this criminal case, Fulford, as Peggy Jones, allegedly defrauded another man out of $25K.

Securities Cases: Massachusetts Charges Royal Alliance Over Unsuitable Investment Advice, Ex-Schwab Rep. is Fined For Alleged False Statements, and Texas Broker Accused of Bank Fraud Gets His CFP Designation Suspended

Published on: January 24, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former Centaurus Financial Broker’s Certified Financial Planner Designation is Suspended

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has suspended Texas broker’s Larry J. Templin’s CFP designation. The interim suspension comes after Templin, who is accused of bank fraud, refused to provide the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) with information related to the allegations against him.

Templin was a Centaurus Financial broker until last year when he was fired by the Texas-based brokerage firm. Previously, he was registered with USAllianz Securities and First Global Capital, which are both headquartered in Texas. Templin worked in the securities industry for over 20 years.

CFD Investments Ordered to Pay $125K Fine Over the Inadequate Supervision of Variable Annuity Sales

Published on: January 21, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is ordering CFD Investments to pay a $125K fine over what the self-regulatory authority (SRO) found to be the inadequate supervision of its registered representatives when they sold variable annuities(VAs) to customers. FINRA said that between 7/2014 and 7/2016 the broker-dealer did not set up, keep up, or enforce written procedures or a supervisory system designed in a reasonable enough manner that would allow the firm to properly oversee these transactions.

The SRO found that of the 1,574 VA purchase and exchanges made by the firm during the period in question, over 18% of them were L-share contracts, most of which came with long-term riders. However, according to FINRA, many of broker-dealer’s customers that bought these shares wanted a long-term investment horizon and would have benefited more from being sold B-share contracts. Also, unlike L-share contracts, B-share contracts don’t come with 30-50 basis point annual fees.

Inadequate Supervision and Inappropriate Recommendations

Royal Alliance and Former Broker Are Ordered to Pay $4.2M To Widow Who Was Victim of Investor Fraud

Published on: January 17, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) panel has found that ex-Royal Alliance Associates broker stole money from Cathy Carter, a 54-year-old widow suffering from a brain injury. Former broker Gary Basralian has already pleaded guilty to defrauding clients of at least $2M and using the funds on himself.

Now, FINRA has announced two awards holding Royal Alliance and its former broker liable for the fraud. The self-regulatory authority is ordering both of them to pay the widow $2.1M and $500K for legal fees each.

Basralian resigned from Royal Alliance in 2017. FINRA barred him from the securities industry last March.