Colony Capital LLC, whose chairman and founder, 63-year-old billionaire,Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., began Colony Investors VIII, LP, in 2007, a $4 billion fund which lost over 60% in the first quarter. Barrack and other private-equity managers, spent over $1.6 trillion in buyouts between 2005 to 2007. Many believe this led to the worst financial crisis […]

A Seattle investment advisor, Mark F. Spangler, 60, was sentenced March 13, 2014, to 16 years in prison on 32 counts of fraud and money laundering. Spangler, without his clients' knowledge, invested more than $46 million into two very risky startup companies which he also had ownership interest. Beginning in 1998, Spangler raised more than […]

The struggling Puerto Rican municipal bond market is forcing the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) to hire more arbitrators in Puerto Rico, after they were swamped with over 200 investor lawsuits. After Detroit filed bankruptcy last summer, Puerto Rico's municipal bond market has been struggling. Investors are afraid of Puerto Rico's municipal debt of […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc, also known as FINRA, has fined two firms, Triad Advisors Inc., $650,000, and Securities America Inc., $625,000. These two independent broker/dealers are owned by Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. This $1.275 million fine was imposed on March 12th., 2014, due to failure to supervise the hundreds of brokers who […]

Jeffrey G. Kelly, 45, of Hilliard, Ohio, owner and operator of Superior Financial Resources, LLC, J.G. Kelly Financial Group, LLC, J.G. Kelly Equities Group, LLC, and JGK Group, was sentenced by a federal judge sentenced to 60 months in prison for defrauding investors of $1.5 million. According to prosecutors, those investors were not just his […]

Lars Soreide, Esq., of Soreide Law Group, is representing investors from Texas and Maryland before the Finanical Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) who filed claims against Matthew A. Bell (CRD# 3091864) for his conduct while at WFG Investments. The lawsuit alleges that Bell recommended inappropriate investments including, but are not limited to: penny stocks such as […]

Puerto Rico used to be known as a tax haven for investors. However, Puerto Rico is experiencing huge financial problems that could easily cost American investors a large portion of their investments, particularly if the island goes bankrupt. Puerto Rico went through an over-borrowing spree in the past few decades. This small island managed to […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint, February 21, 2014, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, alleging Charles P. O'Brien, from 1998 - 2008, engaged in a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate money from his client--over $298,000. The complaint alleged O'Brien had issued checks in the client's name from the […]

Did your broker/financial advisor recommend any of these three stocks which hit a 52 week low? It was certainly not a memorable week for the investors of these following stocks: 1. Danier Leather (TSX:DL) Danier Leather hit a 52-week low of $10.50 on March 6, but this fall was coming. In March, 2013, the Federal […]