James Y. Lee, La Jolla, California, was charged by the SEC on February 13, 2014, for allegedly defrauding his advisory clients by charging a management fee up to 50% of the client's monthly profits and told clients that he would share 50% of their losses. When the clients lost, he did not reimburse them his […]

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A Texas appeals court reversed a lower-court ruling making the Life Partners Inc.’s life-settlement policies now regulated under state securities laws, which had previously found the policies didn’t qualify. Life Partners Holdings buys the rights to death benefits from the policyholder in exchange for a lump-sum payment. The State of Texas accused Life Partners Holdings […]

Jesse Litvak, a former Jefferies & Co. managing director, has been charged with defrauding customers out of $2 million. A jury has been selected in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut. Litvak is charged with fraud in connection with a United States program using bailout funds to help spur investment in mortgage-backed securities. This is […]

On January 30th., 2014, Paul Elvidge, a 53-year-old securities broker from Port St. Lucie, Florida, pleaded guilty to federal charges of embezzling more than $1 million from client accounts, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Paul Elvidge operated Seacoast Investor Services, which was purchased by Cape Securities in Port St. Lucie. The $1.1 million embezzlement […]

PVCT TD Ameritrade lock out

Three New York brokers, Benjamin Chouchane, Marek Leszczynski, and Henry Condron, who all previously worked the cash desk at their Wall Street broker/dealer, had judgments entered against them on January 14, 2014, for overcharging clients $18.7 million. These brokers used hidden markups and markdowns, keeping secretly a portion of the profits from the trades. This […]

The following summation of information was found on FINRA's website under "Disciplinary and Other FINRA Actions, January, 2014." Thomas Paul O’Connor (CRD #5699014, Registered Representative, Boston, Massachusetts) was fined $10,000 and suspended by FINRA for 12 months. Allegedly O’Connor forged his client's signature on documents relating to buying insurance policies, a fixed life policy and […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, also known as FINRA, has issued a notice on their website which provides guidance to broker/dealers on the communications they have with their clients regarding unlisted real estate investment programs, including unlisted real estate investment trusts (REITs) and unlisted direct participation programs (DPPs) which invest in real estate. Recently, in […]