In a May 24th, 2012, article from Ft. Lauderdale's Sun-Sentinel, Jon Burstein writes that an investment adviser from Ft. Lauderdale, and others, exploited trust and friendships within the Ft. Lauderdale gay community of Wilton Manors to help fuel a multimillion-dollar investment fraud, according a lawsuit brought this week by a group of investors. There were fourteen residents of […]

Soreide Law Group, PLLC, is currently investigating claims against Douglas A. Leone of Newport Coast Securities, Irvine, California.  Leone was previously, according to FINRA's Brokercheck,  located in New York. Currently, according to FINRA's Brokercheck, Leone has 3 pending customer disputes against him and has other cases that have been settled in arbitration.  The alleged charges against him that were settled […]

Soreide Law Group is currently investigating claims against brokers who have over concentrated their clients into Facebook stock. Amazingly, Facebook's p/e (Price to Earnings) ratio is 105 to 1.  Consider for a moment that a fairly valued stock is normally around 15 to 1.  Apple, for example, is 13 to 1, Microsoft is 11 to […]

Patel v. Balchandani, FINRA ID # 11-00973 (Louisville, KY, 5/4/2012) - A FINRA Arbitration Panel awarded approximately $1 million, including $200,000 in punitive damages, to a pair of customers who alleged a churning scheme targeting Indian-Americans. The following is part of the "Case Summary" that was presented on FINRA's website: "Claimants asserted the following causes […]

The following information is from FINRA’s website under, “Disciplinary and Other FINRA Actions, May, 2012.” Sean Donald Premock (CRD #3175558, Registered Representative, Fort Lauderdale, Florida)   submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, Premock […]

The following information is from FINRA’s website under, “Disciplinary and Other FINRA Actions, May, 2012.” Harrison A. Hatzis (CRD #2640978, Registered Principal, Hallandale, Florida)   was fined $30,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two years.   The NAC imposed the sanctions following appeal of an Office of Hearing […]

John Brian Busacca III (CRD #2302780, Registered Principal, Orlando, Florida) was fined $30,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any principal capacity for six months. The SEC sustained the sanctions following appeal of a NAC decision. The U.S. Court of Appeals denied Busacca’s petition for review.   The sanctions were based on […]

Today, in a Wall Street Journal article, Craig Karmin writes that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is currently investigating an $11 billion real-estate company for potential violations of federal securities laws, looking at the business of real estate investment trusts that aren't traded on exchanges. They are looking at the activity of Inland American Real Estate Trust to […]

Soreide Law Group, PLLC, is investigating claims against brokerages who sold their clients CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors, LLC. These investments may have been misrepresented to a more conservative client, as safe or low risk. Also, it is alleged that some brokers may have over-concentrated CIP in their clients' portfolios. CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors, LLC, also […]