Investor Lawyers Blog

AriseBank in Dallas is Accused of Alleged $600M ICO Offering Fraud

Published on: January 29, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The SEC has put a stop to Dallas-based AriseBank’s initial coin offering. The regulator contends that AriseBank, which touts itself as the first “decentralized bank” in the world, and its principals are committing Texas financial fraud, and they’ve targeted retail investors, including Texas investors, in an effort to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now, the Commission has a court order to stop the sale of AriseCoin cryptocurrency, which it says are unregistered investments. The regulator called the ICO an “illegal offering” of said securities and it accused the company of engaging in an “outright” scam.

AriseBank reportedly sought to raise $1B during its ICO, which began in late December and was scheduled to end later month. Investors were supposed to receive their distributions on February 10.

SEC Cases: Woodbridge Agrees to Pay Legal Fees for Investors Harmed in Alleged $1.2B Ponzi Scam, Hoplon Financial Group is Accused of $2.18M Securities Offering Scheme, and Ticket Reserve Settles Investor Fraud Charges

Published on: January 27, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Woodbridge to Appoint New Board to Run the Property Developer, Will Pay for Investor Fraud Lawyers
Woodbridge Group of Companies and the US Securities and Exchange Commission have come to an agreement that a New Board of Managers will be appointed to oversee the bankrupt property developer. The company, which is accused of running a $1.2B Ponzi scam, will pay for legal representation for its investors that continue to grapple with losses they may have sustained in the alleged fraud. Some 8,400 investors gave their money to Woodbridge.

Woodbridge owner Robert Shapiro is accused of owing over $961M to investors, many of them elderly investors, who purchased securities from the company while under the impression that they’d be guaranteed up to 8% interest. Investors were told that their money would be lent out to companies in exchange for up to 15% interest when, in fact, contends the SEC, these developers were entities that Shapiro himself controlled.

Shapiro, who is accused of taking at least $21M of investors’ funds to pay for his lavish lifestyle, denies the SEC’s allegations.

Goldman Sachs is Lead Plaintiff in Institutional Investor Fraud Lawsuit Against Startup Outcome Health

Published on: January 25, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

After backing Outcome Health, an advertising company, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (GS) and other investors are among those suing the startup for fraud and to get their money back. The lawsuit, filed a couple of months ago, comes in the wake of allegations that investors were fooled by inflated information financial performances and were charged for ad space that they never received. Outcome denies any wrongdoing.

It wasn’t too long ago that the company was generating high profits and revenue, while investors were told that their returns were guaranteed. Just last spring, institutional investors, including Goldman, infused $478M into the ad company, which streams pharmaceutical advertising onto tablets and flatscreens at doctor offices.

According to the Wall Street Journal, there had been red flags even back then. The newspaper noted how even the “savviest investors” can miss or ignore warnings. For example, Outcome already had a lot of debt, including $325M for a loan. It also lacked an independent board to conduct oversight and its co-founders were poised to make an “unusually large payout.”

Securities Fraud: Fast Food Restaurant Employees Allegedly Posed as SEC Employees to Bilk Investors, Chicago Investment Adviser Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Senior Investors, and Man Awaiting Real Estate Investment Fraud Sentence is Arrested While Trying to Leave the US

Published on: January 24, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Two Fast Food Restaurant Workers are Accused of Impersonating SEC Employees
Frank Gregory Cedeno and Leonel Alexis Valerio Santana, two employees at a Florida restaurant, are accused of pretending to be SEC employees who tried to get at least 95 investors to give pay them $1.3M. The men are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy.

According to the criminal complaint, Cedeno and Santana targeted investors of binary options, in particular those that bought them from Banc de Binary and other entities that had been the subject of lawsuits brought by US regulators. For example,in 2016, Banc de Binary settled with the SEC and the CFTC for $11M allegations that they illegally solicited US investors via its trading platform. But even as early as the year before that, prosecutors contend, Banc de Binary securities buyers began receiving calls and emails from supposed SEC employees wanting money related to these investments. Investor targets were purportedly told that they would have to pay money to get part of the Banc de Binary settlement. More than two dozen people reportedly gave the scammers over $235,000 collectively.

Chicago Investment Adviser Arrives at Plea Agreement in Senior Fraud Case
Daniel Glick, a former investment advisor, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Per the plea deal, Glick bilked clients of at least $5.2M and lied to them about their money. The majority of his victims were older investors, including his in-laws and a nursing home resident.

CFTC and Massachusetts Regulator Accuse Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Operators of Selling Unregistered Securities

Published on: January 22, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed civil cases against virtual currency operators CabbageTech, Entrepreneurs Headquarters Ltd., and My Big Coin Pay Inc. The regulator is alleging fraud, misappropriation, misrepresentation, and other unregistered securities allegations. It wants disgorgement, fines, restitution, injunctions, and other remedies.

In the case against CabbageTech, doing business as Coin Drop Markets, and its owner Patrick K. McDonnell, the Defendants are accused of participating in a virtual currency scam to solicit investor for funds and virtual money, supposedly in exchange for real-time trading advice and the sale and trading of virtual currency under McDonnell’s guidance.

Instead, claims the CFTC, investors received no such advice and they never saw their money again because McDonnell and CabbageTech misappropriated their funds. The regulator believes that the defendants sought to hide their scam by eliminating their online and social media presence and ending communications with customers.

The CFTC’s civil action against McDonnell and his company was announced the same day as its case against The Entrepreneurs Headquarters Limited, which is a company registered in the UK, and founder Dillon Michael Dean. The regulator believes that beginning in April 2017 through now, the defendants solicited at least $1.1M of Bitcoin from over 600 investors, with the promise that the Bitcoin would be turned into fiat currency and invested in a pooled investment vehicle to trade commodity interests.
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HSBC Arrives at $100M Currency Rigging Settlement with DOJ

Published on: January 22, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In the US, HSBC Holdings Plc. will pay approximately $100M in penalties to settle a Department of Justice’s criminal probe into currency rate rigging—that’s a $63.1M fine and $38.4M in restitution. The bank’s deal is a three-year deferred prosecution agreement, which means that no criminal charges will be brought as long as HSBC fulfills the terms. As part of the settlement, HSBC will help the government with its criminal probe of individuals who may have played a part in the rate manipulation and enhance its internal controls.

The currency rate rigging allegations involved at least two ex-HBSC employees, including Mark Johnson, the ex-worldwide head of its foreign exchange trading and Stuart Scott, the ex-head of its European currency trading. Johnson has already been convicted in the front-running case involving a $3.5B trade by client Cairn Energy Plc. He is scheduled for sentencing next month. Scott is currently fighting a court order in the UK so as to avoid extradition back to the US to face the criminal charges against him.

Both men are accused of buying British pounds leading up to the Cairn Energy trade, with the expectation that their purchases, and the one by Cairn Energy, would cause the pound’s price to go up. After the Cairn Energy order went through and the value of their pounds rose, the two men sold their currency at a profit.

FINRA Awards more than $4M to Elderly Investors Bilked by Ex-First Allied Securities Broker

Published on: January 19, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel has awarded over $4.3M to investors in their elder financial fraud case against former First Allied Securities broker Anthony Diaz. The plaintiffs contend that he invested their retirement funds in high risk private placement investments that were unsuitable for them. They are alleging inadequate supervision, misrepresentation and omissions, unsuitability, fraud, and other violations.

Diaz is considered to be a rogue broker by the regulator, who barred him in 2015. He not only worked at 11 firms win 14 years, but also he appeared to have no problem getting another job whenever he was let go from a previous. Diaz’s BrokerCheck profile shows that he is named in 53 customer dispute and regulatory disclosures.

The arbitration award to the investors is over $1M in compensatory damages, more than $413K in legal fees, and $2.9M in punitive damages. They settled with First Allied Securities last year.

Investors Continue to Go After Goldman Sachs in the Wake of Abacus CDO-Related Losses

Published on: January 18, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan has decided that the shareholder lawsuit brought against Goldman Sachs (GS) for its high-risk subprime securities leading up to the 2008 financial crisis cannot move forward as a class action securities fraud case. The court said that a lower court judge had put too much of a burden on the bank by mandating that it prove that the misleading statements and conflicts of interest alleged by the plaintiffs did not affect its stock price. Shareholders, however, are allowed to pursue shareholders class certification again.

The plaintiffs contend that between 2007 and the middle of 2010, they lost over $13B because the Wall Street bank was not forthcoming about being able to deal with certain conflicts. They accused Goldman Sachs of hiding short positions made in a number of subprime mortgage collateralized debt obligations, including the:

Timberwolf
Anderson Mezzanine Funding 2007-1
Abacus 2007 AC-1
Hudson Mezzanine Funding 2006-1

Barclays Capital Trader is Indicted in Massive Front Running Scam

Published on: January 17, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A criminal indictment has been issued against Robert Bogucki, Barclays’ (BARC) ex-foreign exchange operation head in New York. Bogucki, who is a Barclay’s trader but has been on leave since late 2016, is accused of involvement in a scam to bilk one of the bank’s clients by engaging in front-running. This type of activity usually involves using advance knowledge about an upcoming order and trading in a way to profit from this information.

The criminal charges against Bogucki include multiple counts of wire fraud and a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His indictment alleges that in 2011, the ex-Barclays forex trader improperly used the information provided by Barclays’ client Hewlett-Packard Company prior to a significant trade. HP had retained the bank to execute the forex transaction, which involved $8.3B of forex options, and that was tied to plans to acquire another company.

Bogucki and others allegedly used the information given to them by HP to manipulate the “volatility’s” price so as to lower the price of the company’s options. The alleged fraud is said to have caused HP millions of dollars in losses.

“Volatility” is the metric that impacts forex options. Barclays is accused of making misrepresentations to Hewlett-Packard so as to benefit the bank.

BitConnect Shutters Its Lending and Exchange Operation, Leaving Texas Investors With No Place to Trade Their BCC Currency

Published on: January 17, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

BitConnect, an investment lending platform for Bitcoin, has suddenly announced that it is shuttering its lending and exchange operation immediately. The company said that its exchange platform would shut down in five days. In a post on its site, BitConnect said that moving forward, it would operate for “wallet service, news and educational purposes.”

The announcement caused the price of BitConnect Coins (BCC), which is its Bitcoin currency, to plunge by over 90%–from over $400/coin to about $17.25/coin. Now, its investors are left wondering what to do with their coins.

Some site users are claiming that even though the exchange for the BCCs was supposed to stay open throughout the week, they have been unable to process trades because they cannot access the exchange. CoinDesk reports that one investor sent an email, claiming over $400K in losses because of this.