Investor Lawyers Blog

Insider Trading: SAC Capital Advisors Settles with Investors, Former Portfolio Manager Seeks New Trial, and Jury Convicts Ex- MLB Player

Published on: May 12, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-SAC Capital Advisors LP Portfolio manager Mathew Martoma is asking for another trial. Martoma is serving nine years behind bars after he was convicted for insider trading in Wyeth LLC and Elan Corp. stock based on illegal tips and making $275M in the process. He believes his conviction should be overturned because of a ruling issued by the US Supreme Court last year.

The Supreme Court case involved a man accused of engaging in insider trading after his brother-in-law, a former Citigroup (C) investment banker, gave him the illegal tip. The nation’s highest court upheld the conviction against Bassam Salman in a unanimous ruling. The justices said that a person could be convicted for sharing insider tips with a friend or relative regardless of whether or not there was a profit for the tipper.

Martoma is accused of obtaining confidential information from two physicians involved in clinical trials for an Alzheimer’s drug. His defense attorney is contending that the prosecution did not bring enough evidence to demonstrate that the person who tipped Martoma shared the information because he was paid money. The lawyer also claims that instructions the jurors received were flawed because they allowed for a conviction on the grounds of the promise that the tipper was motivated by the possibility of friendship instead of because of a preexisting personal connection. Prosecutors are arguing that the financial relationship between Martoma and one of the physicians, who testified that he was paid $1K/hour for consulting with Martoma, was sufficient to support the earlier conviction.

Texas Securities Fraud Cases by Investment Promoters Lead to Civil and Criminal Charges

Published on: May 11, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Two investment promoters are accused of running an advance fee scheme from what they claimed was a Dallas-based investment advisory firm. According to an Emergency Cease and Desist Order entered by the Texas Securities Commission, the Mark Diaz and Raymond Hill offered to buy investors’ stock under the condition that those selling would have to cover transaction costs. The two men promoted their alleged Texas-based securities fraud through social media, bogus websites, forged documents, and supposed IRS affiliations.

Two websites they set up had names similar to Cain Capital LLC, which is a firm that is actually registered with the SEC. According to the Texas regulator, one of the bogus websites directs visitors to a regulator filing that the real Cain Capital submitted to the SEC, as well as to that firm’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

Both sites and the social media accounts are not connected to Cain Capital in anyway. The two men are accused of sending unsolicited email that included documents with Cain Capital’s name in the letterhead to prospective investors.

Hedge Funds Under Investigation Over Bond Valuations

Published on: May 11, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to Bloomberg, US prosecutors are conducting a criminal probe into whether hedge funds inflated the value of bonds to enhance the fees they were paid. Sources told the news media outlet that prosecutors want to know whether hedge funds solicited fake price quotes from brokers, which would have let the funds artificially raise the value of illiquid securities in their portfolios.

Just this week, a witness in the residential mortgage-backed securities fraud criminal trial against three ex-Nomura Holdings Inc. traders—they are accused of lying about RMBS prices to clients—stated under oath that he had given a Premium Point Investments LP trader fake quotes. The witness, ex-broker Frank DiNucci Jr., claims that two of the defendants, Michael Gramins and Ross Shapiro, are among the ones that trained him to lie to customers about bond prices. DiNucci, who pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy and making misrepresentations,previously worked at Nomura. He also worked at Auriga USA LLC and AOC Securities LLC.

Because certain securities are hard to price, hedge funds depend on brokers and third parties for estimates and quotes to determine how to value debt. Holding artificially inflated securities in the portfolios can allow a hedge fund to tout a better performance and get paid more for performance and management fees. It also allows them to conceal when some holdings do poorly.

SEC Cases: Barclays Will Pay $97M for Overcharging Clients, Regulator Accuses Ex-Staffer of Securities Fraud, Whistleblower is Awarded Over $500K, and Two Chinese Citizens Face Penny Stock Scam Allegations

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

Barclays Must Pay Back Sales Charges, Advisory Fees
The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Barclays Capital (BARC) has settled securities charges accusing the firm of overbilling clients. As part of the resolution, which includes paying over $97M, Barclays must pay back advisory fees and mutual fund sales charges to clients that were affected. The firm is settling without denying or admitting to the SEC’s findings.

The SEC’s case involved three sets of violations resulting in almost $50M in client overcharges. According to the Commission, two of Barclays advisory programs charged over 2,000 clients for services that were not conducted as presented. Meantime, 63 broker-dealer clients paid too much in mutual fund sales charges or fees because Barclays recommended that they purchase more costly share classes even though there were less expensive ones available. Also, over 22K accounts paid Barclays excess fees because the firm made billing mistakes and miscalculations.

Ex-SEC Staffer Accused of Securities Fraud
The SEC has filed charges against David R. Humphrey, one of its ex-employees, for securities fraud related to trades that he made. Humphrey worked with the regulator from 1998 to 2014.

Securities Cases: Verto Capital Settles Life Settlement Charges, Couple File Broker Fraud Claim Against NY Life Securities, JCPenny to Settle Texas Class Action Lawsuit for $97.M, & Cetera Admits to Charging Investors More For Mutual Funds

Published on: May 8, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Financial Firm and Its CEO Settle Life Settlement Fraud Charges
The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Verto Capital Management and its CEO William Schantz III have settled civil charges accusing them of running a Ponzi-like scam involving life settlements. As part of the settlement, Verto Capital and Schantz will pay over $4M.

According to the regulator’s complaint, the two of them raised about $12.5M through promissory note sales that were supposed to pay for the firm’s purchase and sale of life settlements. The notes were sold mostly through insurance brokers in Texas.

Investors who were religious were the main target of the alleged fraud.They were allegedly told that that the securities were short-term investments that were at low risk of defaulting.

Massachusetts Fines LPL Financial $1M For Advisers’ Alleged Misrepresentations, Failure to Disclose Commissions

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

The office of Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has fined LPL Financial (LPLA) $1M because the firm’s financial advisers allegedly made misrepresentations to consumers. According to the state regulator, the brokerage firm, which is based in Boston, failed to properly supervise its advisers located at Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) branches.

LPL financial advisers are allowed to work out of the DCU in return for part of the concessions. However, noted Galvin’s office, the problem was that LPL’s advisers conducted their business as DCU Financial, a reference that could have cause customers to think that they worked for the credit union.

The Massachusetts regulator said that an undercover sting operation was put into place, during which time one LPL adviser allegedly claimed to work for DCU and said that he was not paid commissions for offering investment advice, which was a false statement. Also, DCU paid these advisers bonuses in a sales contest that LPL never authorized.

UBS and Credit Suisse Settle Mortgage-Backed Securities Cases With for $445M and $400M, Respectively

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

UBS Group AG (UBS) has paid the National Credit Union Administration $445M to settle claims brought on behalf of Western Corporate Federal Credit Union and U.S. Central Federal Credit Union, which both failed after they sustained losses from residential mortgage-backed securities they purchased through the broker-dealer.The two credit unions went into conservatorship several years ago and have since shut down.

UBS settled this latest case without denying or admitting to wrongdoing. The lender had previously paid NCUA $79.3M to resolve similar allegations involving two other credit unions that also failed. With that settlement, the bank also did not deny or admit wrongdoing.

To date, NCUA has recovered nearly $5B in settlements from big banks related to the faulty securities that they sold to corporate credit unions.

Puerto Rico Files for Title III Bankruptcy Protection

Published on: May 3, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, is now under bankruptcy protection. Since the island is not a municipality, it could not file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection as did the city of Detroit. It is, however, availing itself of a Title III process that resembles Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

The process will allow Puerto Rico to use the court to restructure part of the more than $70 Billion in debt the island owes. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), mutual funds hold about $10 Billion of the territory’s outstanding bonds.

Title III, under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), includes bankruptcy provisions that will be applied for the first time ever and it deals with insolvent territorial governments. Puerto Governor Ricardo Rosselló sent his petition for Title III protection today and the federal board tasked with overseeing the island’s finances approved his request soon after. Now, Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will have to appoint a bankruptcy judge to Puerto Rico’s case.

Bondholders and Hedge Funds Sue Puerto Rico After Litigation Stay Expires

Published on: May 2, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Hours after a May 1 deadline passed, unfreezing any creditor litigation against Puerto Rico, a number of creditors sued the U.S. territory over its outstanding bonds. Plaintiffs of these Puerto Rico bond lawsuits include general obligation bondholders, COFINA bondholders, and bond insurer Ambac.

The May 1 deadline was supposed to have given the island and its federal financial oversight board time to come up with a debt-reduction agreement with creditors as Puerto Rico owes more than $70 Billion of debt. No deals were made by the deadline.

Following the failure of the island to reach any debt reduction deals, Fitch Ratings downgraded $3.5 Billion of PRASA-issued debt from a “CC” rating to a “C.” PRASA is Puerto Rico’s water authority.

SEC Orders Barclays to Pay Over $16.5M Over Alleged RMBS Fraud by Former Traders

Published on: May 1, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission said that Barclays Capital (BARC) has agreed to pay over $16.5M as part of a settlement resolving allegations accusing the company of failing to properly supervise two of its ex-mortgage bond traders. The men are accused of lying to clients, as well as overcharging some of them. According to the regulator, Barclays did not put into place or execute the proper supervisory procedures that could have stopped or detected the alleged residential mortgage-backed securities fraud.

The two traders, David Wong and Yoon Seok Lee, are accused of making misleading or false statements to the firm’s customers about RMBS securities, how much Barclays makes for facilitating the trades, and other pertinent information. Lee and Wong also are accused of making excessive mark-ups on certain transactions without telling customers.

The SEC said that the ex-Barclays traders’ actions, which would have occurred between 6/2009 and 12/2012, caused Barclays to earn $15.5M in profits.