Investor Lawyers Blog

Alleged Immigration Scams Lead to SEC Fraud Charges

Published on: December 8, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed enforcement actions against a number of attorneys for offering EB-5 investments even though they are not registered brokers. As SEC Enforcement Division Director Andrew J. Ceresney noted, individuals who conduct certain services and get commissions when raising funds for EB-5 projects have to be officially registered.

Under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, foreign investors are given an opportunity to gain U.S. residency if they invest in a designated projected that preserves or establishes at least 10 jobs for workers in this country. In its complaint, the SEC accused Hui Feng and his firm, the Law Offices of Feng & Associates of acting as unregistered brokers when selling EB-5 investments to over 100 investors. The Commission said that they bilked clients by not disclosing that they were paid commissions on the investments, which is a breach of their legal and fiduciary obligations. The regulator also said that they bilked certain entities that do offer such investments. Feng and his law offices are based in New York.

The SEC also filed charges against Mehorn P. Azarmehr and his Azarmehr Law Group, Michael Bander and his Bander Law Firm, Miami, Fla. lawyer Roger Bernstein, Hoboken, NH lawyer Allen Kaye, Los Angeles-based lawyers Taraneh Khorrami, Mike Manesh and this firm Manesh and Mizrahi, and Kefei Wang, who is based on China. All of these individuals and entities have agreed to cease and desist from acting as unregistered brokers. Most of them have consented to pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and/or a penalty.

NY Man Convicted in $800K Hedge Fund Fraud

Published on: December 7, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has issued a statement announcing the conviction of Mazzam Ifzal Malik, also known as Mark Malik, on 28 criminal charges that involved him stealing over $800,000 from investors. According to the state, the hedge fund manager set up fake hedge funds so he could take investors’ money.

During cold calls to investors in the United States and abroad, Malik claimed that he had extensive experience on Wall Street, including having managed over $5 billion in assets. Schneiderman, however, said that the 33-year-old only had been a financial consulting trainee. He also was a registered broker but for just two years.
Malik’s real job experience involved working as a traffic agent, waiter, and security guard.

Yet with this lack of experience, from ’11-’15 Malik managed the following bogus hedge funds:

• Wall Street Creative Partners • Wolf Hedge LLC.
• American Bridge Investments L.P.
• Seven Sages Capital, L.P.
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SEC Investigating Whether Banks Were Involved in Credit Swap Collusion

Published on: December 5, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether financial firms colluded together so that prices in the $6 trillion credit default swaps indexes market became skewed. According to the news outlet’s source, the regulator is trying to figure out whether dealers misrepresented index prices. The SEC is reportedly examining indexes that are less-liquid and actively traded.

With the credit-default swaps benchmark, investors can make bets on whether companies, mortgage-backed securities, or countries will default. Trading in swaps index contracts has increased in recent years because investors have been looking for easy ways to make bets via speculation.

At the conclusion of every trading day, benchmark prices for indexes are calculated by third-party providers according to dealer quotes. This sets the level at which traders are able to make their positions. This process resembles the way markets that don’t trade on exchanges establish benchmark prices.

SEC Approves Change to FINRA’s BrokerCheck On When to Publish Firings

Published on: December 3, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s plan to shorten the waiting period for when certain information reported on Form U5 can be released on BrokerCheck.com from 15 days to three days. This includes information about broker firings. The modification will go into effect on December 12.

Brokerage firms use Form U5 to give notice of when a broker has been let go. This notification is published on BrokerCheck, which is a public database that includes background information about registered brokers, as well whether any of them have a disciplinary history and what that may be.

The 15 days was so that brokers could have time to explain why they were fired. FINRA, however, has now decided that it is important to notify the public of such terminations sooner than that so that the investors who are thinking hiring these brokers receive this employment history right away. The self-regulatory organization says that it believes three business days still gives a broker a chance to comment on his/her firing.

BrokerCheck.com is an excellent resource for looking up information about a broker and his/her history. It’s important as an investor that you do your due diligence when considering whether to have someone handle your investments and finances. You can also get information about a broker from the Central Registration Depository, which is a computerized database. Another way to find out about a broker is to call your state securities regulator and request access to his/her registration, disciplinary, and employment information. You can get information about how to reach your state regulator through the North American Securities Administrators Association’s website.
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RCAP Settles Proxy Fraud Allegations With Massachusetts for $3M, Shuts Down Wholesaling REIT Brokerage Division

Published on: December 2, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

RCS Capital Corp. is closing its wholesaling brokerage unit following allegations of fraud and a drop in its sales of nontraded real estate investment trusts. InvestmentNews reports that according to a source, about 150 employees at Realty Capital Securities are expected to be laid off, as are another 50 employees who work elsewhere in the company.

The company also announced that it has settled the proxy fraud allegations made against it by Massachusetts’ securities division and it will pay $3 million. The state’s Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin accused the broker-dealer of fraudulently collecting proxy votes to back real estate deals that were sponsored by AR Capital, which is owned by former real estate magnate Nicholas Schorsch. He still is a principal shareholder of RCAP stock. It was Realty Capital Securities that raised hundreds of millions of dollars in equity each month for retail investors who bought Schorsch REITs just a few years ago.
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Ex-J.P. Morgan Bankers to Settle SEC’s $8.2M Bribery Case Related to Jefferson County, Alabama Bonds

Published on: December 2, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Douglas MacFaddin and Charles LeCroy will pay $326,373 to settle SEC civil charges accusing them of paying friends of Jefferson County, Alabama officials $8.2M in return for $5B in county bond business. Together, the ex-J.P. Morgan Securities (JPM) executives will pay $326,373 once a district court judge approves the proposed settlements—that’s 4% of the $8.2M that was allegedly paid so that their firm could get the business.

Jefferson Count experienced financial woes when it borrowed funds so it could comply with a 1996 court order to stop sewer leaks from getting into area streams. Additional construction costs and bond swaps cost the project to exceed over $3B.

The Commission’s lawsuit had alleged violations of its law and rules. The regulator’s charges against the two men were resolved in mediation.

SEC Files Charges Against Traders for Options Trading Scams

Published on: November 30, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The SEC has filed charges against ex-broker Richard Kenney and twin brothers Shahryar Afshar and Behruz Afshar. The regulator is accusing them of going around market structure rules and engaging in options trading scams. The regulator claims that the three men improperly traded options to garner lower fees and gain execution priority. They also purportedly took part in spoofing so they could get liquidity rebates.

SEC Enforcement Division Director Andrew Ceresney said that the men’s alleged actions fooled the options exchanges and placed other participants at a disadvantage. The regulator maintains that because of their purported wrongdoing, the two brothers and Kenney were able to get benefits that were not intended for professional traders.

Specifically, according to the SEC order: Even though the Afshars’ accounts should have gotten the “professional” designation for acting as non-broker-dealers that placed over 390 orders/day during the subsequent quarter, they were able to place orders as “customer” non-broker dealers. They did this by alternating trading between accounts. After one account became designated “professional” for the next quarter, they would use the other “customer” account and then trade off the next quarter.

The SEC says that Kenny and the Afshars were able to execute this scam through misrepresentations that made it seem as if just one of the brothers owned Fineline Trading Group, LLC while the other was supposedly the sole owner of Makino Capital, LLC.
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Citigroup Could Pay $872M in Securities Lawsuit by Allied Irish Banks

Published on: November 30, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Twelve years after Allied Irish Banks Plc (AIB) filed a securities lawsuit against Citigroup (C) accusing the bank of helping a rogue trader conceal about $691 million in losses, the case is slated to go to trial next month. AIB reportedly wants $872M from the New York-based bank— $372M in damages and about $500M in pre-judgment interest.

It was in 2003 that AIB sued Citigroup subsidiary Citibank and Bank of America Corp. (BAC). AIB contends that the defendants were linked to a scam that led to significant losses for its former unit, Allfirst Financial. Bank of America has already settled the allegations against it.

In 2002, trader John Rusnak’s losses were discovered and he pleaded guilty to banking fraud. Rusnak admitted to concealing $691M in trading losses while employed at Allfirst. The losses were sustained over five years and came from primarily trading the Japanese yen and for taking even bigger risks as he sought to get back some of these losses.

While Rusnak did not make a direct profit from the losses, he made over $650K in bonuses when he made it appear as if Allfirst was making money. He was released from prison in 2009.

SEC Cases: Ex-Stockbroker Accused of Bilking Investor for Home Renovations, Marwood Group Admits to Wrongdoing Over Compliance Failures, and Ex-Goldman Sachs Employee Faces Insider Trading Charges

Published on: November 28, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former Stockbroker Raises Over $1.2M from Customers to Remodel His Home
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging ex-stockbroker Bernard M. Parker with Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 violations, as well as violations of Rule 10b-5. The regulator says that Parker raised over $1.2M from long-term brokerage customers and others by getting them to think they were buying real estate tax client certificates and would make up to 9% yearly interest.

Instead, says the SEC, Parker only used a small part of that money to buy the liens. He used their other funds to remodel his house, pay his father-in-law’s bills, and make car payments. The agency also claims that the ex-broker conducted the unregistered and fraudulent investment offering using his Parker Financial Services from ’08 to ’14. He also purportedly failed to notify the investment advisory firm and broker-dealer where he was dually registered about his side business.

The Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania has filed criminal charges against Parker in a parallel case over the alleged broker fraud.

Political Intelligence Firm Admits to Compliance Failures
Marwood Group Research LLC has admitted to compliance failures and will settle the SEC’s case against it by paying a $375,000 penalty. According to the Commission, the firm did not properly notify compliance officers about the times that analysts received potential material nonpublic data from government employees.

The firm’s own written policies and procedures are supposed to play a key part in Marwood Group’s efforts to stop nonpublic and confidential data from reaching its clients so as not to influence their decisions regarding securities trading. Yet its misconduct happened in 2013 when analysts were looking for information about pending regulatory approvals and policies at the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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SEC Sets Deadline for New Fiduciary Standard

Published on: November 28, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Management and Budget says to expect the notice of proposed rulemaking for the Personalized Investment Advice Standard of Conduct in October 2016. The SEC’s fiduciary standard rule has been anticipated ever since 2010 when the Dodd-Frank Act gave the regulator the authority to proceed with such a rule.

A new fiduciary rule would mandate that both advisers and brokers who give financial advice do so in their clients’ best interests. Now that the proposed rule isn’t expected for nearly another year, the SEC will be able to see what happens with the Department of Labor’s own proposed fiduciary rule, which is expected to be finalized early in 2016.