Investor Lawyers Blog

Morgan Stanley Sued by Home Shopping Founder’s Widow for $170M

Published on: April 27, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Lynnda L. Speer, the widow of Home Shopping Network co-founder Roy M. Speer, is suing Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (MS), a branch manager, and an adviser for over $170 million. Mrs. Speer contends that the firm and adviser Ami Forte took part in excessive trading, abused their fiduciary duty, and were involved in unauthorized use of discretion.

Now, she is seeking $78 million for Florida Statute violations, up to $66 million in portfolio damages, and up to $44 million for disgorgement and excess commission damages. Also named in the complaint submitted to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is Morgan Stanley branch manager Terry McCoy.

Reuters reports that Speer’s case accuses Morgan Stanley of not properly supervising its brokers and failing to act in the best interests of Mr. Speer. When Speer died in 2012 at the age of 80 his estimated worth was approximately $775 million.

Puerto Rico, Hedge Funds Look to Ex-IMF Officials to Help With Debt Crisis

Published on: April 25, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to The Wall Street Journal, the government of Puerto Rico and the hedge funds that own its bonds are looking to ex-International Monetary Fund officials to help solve the U.S. territory’s growing debt problem. Meantime, Puerto Rico is talking to the funds and other investors about borrowing some $3 billion in new bonds to help fill its coffers that are almost empty. Already, the commonwealth is in debt of over $70 billion.

Now, say sources, Puerto Rico has retained ex-IMF first deputy managing director Anne Krueger as a consultant, and a committee for the hedge funds is talking to the IMF’s ex-Western Hemisphere department director Claudio Loser. The IMF is considered the lender of last resort for countries that are considered emerging market nations.

The dealings with ex-IMF heads are an indicator of Puerto Rico’s unusual status. It is not a sovereign nation or a U.S. state. Therefore, its municipal entities are not entitled to the U.S.’s bankruptcy protections. Yet because the island is an American commonwealth, it doesn’t qualify for aid from the IMF.

BlackRock Advisors Settles SEC Charges Over Conflict of Interest Disclosures for $12M

Published on: April 25, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

BlackRock Advisors (BLK) has consented to be pay $12M resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges claiming that a conflict of interest that occurred because a former portfolio manager’s outside business activity was not disclosed. Additionally, the firm agreed to a censure and will retain an independent compliance consultant to perform a review.

According to the regulator, when Daniel J. Rice III founded Rice Energy, an oil and natural gas company, he was also managing energy-focused funds and separately managed accounts at the firm. Also, he’d invested $50M in Rice Energy and was general partner.

The oil and natural gas company eventually went into a joint venture that became the biggest holding in the BlackRock Energy & Resources Portfolio. This also happened to be the biggest fund managed by Rice.

FINRA Bars Wells Fargo Broker to NFL, NBA Players Over Failure to Disclose Nightclub Involvement

Published on: April 24, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has barred broker Aaron Parthemer, a Wells Fargo (WFC) adviser, for taking part in a number of outside businesses and failing to disclose his involvement. FINRA has tight regulations that don’t allow brokers to take part in private securities transactions without notifying their firm and getting authorization. Parthemer, who used to be at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (MS) until four years ago, has advised numerous NBA and NFL athletes.

According to the SRO, he falsely represented, in compliance questionnaires he filled out while with both firms, that he was not taking part in external business activities that warranted disclosure. He also gave FINRA false data when the regulator started to ask for more information about external business activities in 2012.

Parthemer allegedly did not disclose the part he played in running Club Play, which used to be a South Beach, Florida nightclub, as well as his involvement in a tequila marketing operation and an Internet branding startup. FINRA also contends that the broker made unapproved loans to clients in connection with the club and referred clients to invest in the start up.

Killeen Man Accused of Texas Securities Fraud Targeting Military

Published on: April 23, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing Leroy Brown Jr. of Texas securities fraud. Brown, a U.S. army veteran, allegedly solicited ex- and current members of the military and others to invest with him and his firm LB Stocks and Trades Advice.

Among his purported wrongdoings are presenting his firm as SEC- and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority-registered, when it is neither, touting himself as holding all securities licenses, which he does not, and creating a bogus sense of success and legitimacy via numerous misrepresentations to get people to invest. Brown also allegedly persuaded investors to buy $1,000 membership certificates in the firm’s stocks to get involved in purported investments in undeveloped real estate that were purportedly “guaranteed” to double or even triple their money. Instead, said the SEC, he took investors’ funds and placed the cash in his own accounts. The Commission believes the Texas securities scam has gone on for about sixteen months.

Affinity Scams

Deutsche Bank to Pay $2.5B for Rate Rigging

Published on: April 23, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Financial firm Deutsche Bank (DB) will pay a $2.5 billion fine to regulators in the United States and Britain for its involvement in rate rigging. The German lender also will fire seven of its employees.

This is the largest penalty to date against a financial institution over allegations of benchmark manipulation. As part of the deal, Deutsche Bank’s subsidiary in London has pleaded guilty to criminal wire fraud charges. Meantime, the parent group has arrived at a deferred prosecution deal to resolve U.S. wire fraud and antitrust charges.

The large fine is reflective of the banks’ big market share for financial instruments tied to interest rates on mortgages, credit cards, student loans, and credit cards that the benchmarks help set.

Trader Blamed in 2010 Flash Crash is Arrested in London

Published on: April 22, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Almost five years after the 20-minute Flash Crash when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 600 points and then quickly rebounded, the U.S. Department of Justice has arrested trader Navinder Singh Sarao. He is accused of allegedly playing a major part in the brief turmoil because of his involvement in a number of market manipulating trades.

The crash, on May 6, 2010, caused certain stocks to trade at a penny before thousands of trades were cancelled and placed substantial downward pressure on shares of big companies. The Flash Crash generated a lot of worries about just how stable the U.S. stock markets were and triggered scrutiny into high frequency trading firms and electronic trading venues.

Now, following a joint probe with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the DOJ is putting a lot of blame for the crash on Sarao. He is accused of multiple counts of commodities manipulation, one count of wire fraud, and one count of spoofing. Sarao’s alleged manipulation took place over a number of years up, including up through this month.

Boston Investment Adviser Must Pay Two Investors A $48M Arbitration Award

Published on: April 21, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Investment Advisory firm Family Endowment Partners and its managing partner Lee Weiss have been ordered to pay a $48 million securities arbitration award to clients for private investments they made in Biosyntec Polska, a company that owned a tobacco company in Poland and purportedly patents a cigarette filter that was supposed to dramatically transform the tobacco industry.

James and Jane Sutow accused the Boston investment advisor and Weiss of making investment recommendations that were not suitable and grossly negligent, selling unregistered securities using material and fraudulent misstatements, and failing to disclose conflicts of interest in the recommendations they made. More than $20 million in investments were recommended by Family Endowment Partners and Weiss to the claimants.

The Sutows invested $9 million in the Polish company over a three-year period. Iman Emami, the head of the group that purchased Biosyntec Polska, was someone Weiss had been acquainted with for a long time. Emami supposedly held the filter patents. The filter was supposed to use rosemary extract to get rid of most of the free radicals found in cigarette smoke. The Sutows also made investments in companies related to the Polish company, including $9.7 million in funds run and crated by the RIA and Weiss. However, none of the investments came with offering documents or information that gave the claimants complete and fair disclosure of material facts.

Securities Class Action Says ARCP Made Over $900M From Acquisition Binge

Published on: April 20, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to the amended complaint of an investor class action securities case, American Realty Capital Properties Inc. made over $900 million in commissions, fees and payments issued to company insiders after it started an acquisition binge to raise its share price and capital. The non-traded real estate investment trust purportedly started the buying frenzy, which lasted for three years, after completing its $69.8M IPO in 2011 and discovering that its share price was wallowing under the initial public offering price. The lead plaintiff in the case is the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, which is a retirement and annuities plan behemoth.

The securities lawsuit contends that because the lower than desired price was holding up ARCP’s ability to raise a significant amount of capital, the acquisition strategy allegedly involved artificially raising adjusted operation funds—a key metric for investors when evaluating an REIT’s performance. The plaintiffs believe that senior insiders at ARCP knew that the tactic was the only way to make the hefty fees. Over $917 million in payments went straight to ARCP insiders and the company’s affiliates.

Because of the acquisition binge, ARCP went from owning 63 properties and having $13 million in assets to owning over 4,400 properties and $21.3 billion in assets. The complaints claims that indirect and direct payments to ARCP insiders purportedly included $186.6 million subordinated distribution fees, and $333 million in fees and commissions. Some of the fees were allegedly triggered by ARCP’s buying of non-traded REITs American Realty Capital Trust IV Inc. and American Realty Capital Trust II, both defendants in the case. Other payments included $21.6 million for sales purportedly made to ARCP for equipment, fixtures, and furniture, $63.4 million for strategic advisory services, and $17.7 million for financing coordinating fees.

Texas Securities Scam Allegedly Bilked Investors of $4.4M

Published on: April 18, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit accusing Mieka Energy Corporation of Texas Securities Fraud. The oil and gas company and Daro Ray Blankenship, its president and founder, allegedly defrauded at least 60 investors located in different states of about $4.4 million. The regulator is also charging Vadda Energy Corporation, the publicly traded parent company of Mieka, of fraud and reporting violations, including deceptively promoting Mieka’s investments as a successful venture.

The scam is said to have taken place between 2010 and 2011, when investors were purportedly fooled into investing funds that were supposed to purchase energy-related investments while making big returns on other investments. The SEC said that Blankenship and Mieka engaged in boiler room cold calling to market these investments related to drilling, production, and oil and gas exploration.

To get around federal securities regulations, Mieka and Blankenship called their securities offering a “joint venture” and said that the investment interests were not securities, when really, under federal securities law, they were. The regulator said that Blankenship took all of the offering proceeds and spent the money on unrelated projects and expenses. He then used deceptive updates and misleading public filings to mislead investors.