Yesterday, June 12, 2012,  The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged 14 sales agents who misled investors and illegally sold securities for a Long Island-based investment firm at the center of a reported $415 million Ponzi scheme.  The SEC alleges that the agents promised falsely that investor returns would be as high as 12 to 14 percent […]

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 […]

It was announced today that a federal judge sentenced a 36-year-old Dallas man, Joseph Blimline, in connection with his role in a pair of complex, lucrative oil and gas Ponzi schemes that operated in Michigan and Texas, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas John M. Bales announced. Joseph Blimline was sentenced to 240 months in federal […]

In a March, 2012, article for Forbes, Bill Singer writes that for the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing and without an adjudication of any issue, AXA Advisors, LLC submitted a Letter of Acceptance, […]

In a November 25, 2011, article in InvestNews.com, Bruce Kelly writes that broker-dealers who sold billions of dollars in allegedly fraudulent private placements failed massively in their due-diligence responsibilities to investors, according to the assessment of forensic accountant and expert witness Gordon Yale, who has worked on more than 50 legal claims brought by investors against […]

The following are excerpts from Richard G. Ketchum, Chairman and CEO of FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Research Center on the Prevention of Financial Fraud in Washington, DC, Thursday, November 3, 2011. "We bring together policymakers, researchers, practitioners, law enforcement and others to discuss how we can better share […]

The FBI is investigating two former Edward Jones brokers based in South Dakota for their role in a “selling-away” case that involved raising money from clients who invested in an alleged Ponzi scheme writes Bruce Kelly in a September 28, 2011, article in InvestmentNews.com. Kelly writes that according to Jones, a client brought the matter […]

  Gary Harrison Lane has been accused of improprieties in his client's accounts. These accusations relate to the sale of government debt and or notes. Our investigation revealed that Gary Lane may have been involved in the sale of what could ultimately prove to be a ponzi scheme.   If the investigation later proves that Gary […]

In an October 2nd, 2011, InvestmentNews.com article, Bruce Kelly writes that stockbrokers who sell products that promise high returns without the approval of their broker-dealers once again have become a leading concern for state securities regulators. This practice is known as “selling away,” and is one of the most common difficulties that independent and franchisee broker-dealers face in […]