On June 5, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged that Laidlaw Energy Group was targeted in an SEC trading suspension involving questionable penny stocks, and also charged the CEO, Michael B. Bartoszek, who allegedly profited from selling his shares while investors were unaware of the company's financial struggles. According to Reuters, Laidlaw Energy […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), filed an application with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on June 12, 2013, for an order to enforce investigative subpoenas that were served on Bridge Securities, LLC, Bridge Equity, LLC, Bridge Equity, Inc. and FOGFuels, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia. All respondents are under […]

BLAKE BANCROFT RICHARDS (CRD #4051402) Blake Richards of Buford, Georgia, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with violations of the federal securities laws for misappropriating investor funds. In May, the SEC filed an emergency action seeking a temporary restraining order and other emergency relief in federal court against Richards. The SEC’s complaint […]

Recently, FINRA issued an alert regarding “alternative” funds. FINRA points out the key differences between “alternative” funds and the more conventional stocks and bonds. A few points from FINRA on alternative funds: Investment Structure: An alternative fund of funds may offer greater diversification than a single-strategy or even multi-strategy alt fund. At the same time, […]

Benjamin Chouchane, (CRD# 4590169) a former broker for LinkBrokers Derivatives Corp., a unit of London-based ICAP Plc (IAP), pleaded guilty to making millions of dollars by lying about the prices of securities bought and sold for clients as reported in a recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek. Chouchane was arrested in October along with Marek Leszczynski […]

ROBERT GIST CRD# 716088 was permanently barred by FINRA for allegedly misappropriating millions dollars from 30 of his customers. This occurred, according to the FINRA report, from 2003 through 2011. Robert A. Gist, Atlanta, GA, allegedly told his clients that he would invest his clients' financial investments in securities positions. Instead of investing the money, […]

In an effort to protect senior citizens from money swindles, financial regulators have released a new guide for teaching seniors how to detect financial scams and avoid being exploited in a recent article from LifeHealthPRO. Investor Protection Trust (IPT) reported the findings of a recent survey of doctors and nurses and elder financial fraud. The […]

John Thomas Financial CEO, Anastasios “Tommy” Belesis, has been under the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) over the past few months. Now he is in danger of losing his office on 14 Wall Street, where John Thomas occupies the entire 23rd floor, according to […]

Municipal bonds (also known as "munis") are beginning to look tempting — but investors who buy munis in a hurry can sometimes hand over their first year’s worth of income to their broker, writes Jason Zweig in a recent article for Wall Street Journal. However, with a few simple steps, you can control your risk […]