Investment Fraud

J. P. Turner Associates Turning Elsewhere After Firm Closure

August 19, 2015 | Silver Law Group

Cetera Financial Group is placing advisers at Summit and other firms

Independent financial adviser network Cetera Financial Group has taken steps toward relocating advisers at J. P. Turner & Co. after making the decision to close the firm. According to Investment News, about 50 percent of its current advisers have been invited to join Summit Brokerage Services Inc. while the remainder are reportedly being redistributed elsewhere among the firms under Cetera’s umbrella.

The firm’s closure may come as little surprise to those who are aware of its reputation. Investment News InvestmentNews reports Pershing LLC did not want to allow J.P. Turner on its platform. Pershing provides “global financial solutions” to advisers and broker-dealers, according to its website.

Giovanni Acevedo, of Voya Financial Advisors, Inc., Accused of Converting Funds

August 4, 2015 | Silver Law Group

Disciplinary action pending against Wilton Manors, FL financial advisor

Giovanni Acevedo could be facing disciplinary action from FINRA after a complaint that he allegedly converted more than $160,000 in customer funds. According to the report, he allegedly told a customer he would invest a $68,000 check she wrote to the company according to her instructions. He allegedly told her to leave 21 blank signed checks with him, resulting in a total of $145,848.42 converted to what is purported to be his own personal account or one of which he is a beneficiary, according to FINRA.

The official complaint, which was filed on April 8, asks that upon the conclusion that the allegations are proven as fact Acevedo be subject to sanctions according to FINRA Rule 8310, namely disgorgement, but the FINRA manual also allows for suspension or expulsion of a member’s registration.

Christopher Veale Under Investigation From FINRA After Churning Allegations

July 31, 2015 | Silver Law Group

Disciplinary action Pending

In April, FINRA initiated a regulatory investigation after Christopher Frederic Veale, most recently employed by Legend Securities, Inc., allegedly refused to provide documents requested by the agency in response to alleged rule violations. The purported violations involve business and outside business activities, as well as a potential violation of FINRA disclosure requirements in regard to outstanding liens, of which he has a great sum, according to FINRA.

Veale’s 18-year career in the securities industry has been fraught with dispute, both with FINRA and with customers. He has been employed by 18 firms, seven of which have since been expelled by FINRA, according to its website. Amongst other firms, Veale has been employed at John Thomas Financial, Meyers Associates, LP, and Blackwall Capital Markets, Inc.

Florida Stockbroker Richard Ohrn Fakes Disappearance

April 27, 2015 | Silver Law Group

The Sun Sentinel reports that Richard Ohrn, 44, a former South Florida stockbroker who disappeared while fishing in the Atlantic Ocean last month, has admitted that he staged his disappearance by abandoning the boat and driving to Albany, Georgia.

According to the Sun Sentinel, Richard Ohrn was trying to escape legal issues, including a suit by a former employer alleging that he stole from customer accounts and a civil action accusing him and his wife of misusing funds raised for a home-investing business called RKJMO Home Investors.

FINRA records indicate that he was named in a FINRA Arbitration in December 2014 alleging that he converted $15,250 from two elderly clients by forging signatures. That matter is still pending.

Stockbroker Patricia Miller Terminated for Allegedly Misappropriating Customer Funds

January 16, 2015 | Silver Law Group

Patricia Miller was associated with Investors Capital Corp from July 2010 until Investors Capital Corp fired her in May 2014. In October 2014, FINRA suspended her in all capacities from any FINRA firm for her failure to cooperate in a FINRA investigation. Investors Capital Corp is now facing multiple arbitration claims relating to Ms. Miller’s alleged misappropriation from multiple customers and Ms. Miller is facing criminal charges relating to her handling of client funds.

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.

Commodity Trader Paul Greenwood Sentenced to a Decade in Federal Prison for Billion-Dollar Investment Scam

December 26, 2014 | Silver Law Group

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced that New Yorker Paul Greenwood, who operated a billion dollar investment scam where he misappropriated at least $500 million from investors, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for charges related to his participation in the scam.

The criminal charges arose from Greenwood’s illegal solicitation and theft of investors’ money. According to CFTC findings, from at least 1996 to 2009, Greenwood and a co-Defendant solicited more than $7.6 billion from institutional investors, including charitable and university foundations and pension and retirement plans. The Defendants defrauded victims by falsely depicting that all investor funds would be employed in a single investment strategy that consisted of index arbitrage. However, investors money was transferred to another entity from which Greenwood and the co-Defendant stole funds.

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases. Our lawyers routinely handle NFA arbitrations and CFTC claims. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases are handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.

GL Capital Partners Chief Executive Officer Charged with Securities Fraud

December 22, 2014 | Silver Law Group

Daniel Thibeault, chief executive of GL Capital Partners, a brokerage firm which specialized in alternative investments, was arrested on securities fraud charges after the FBI accused him of a fraudulent scheme to divert some $12.6 million from a fund he was overseeing.

Mr. Thibeault allegedly took out fictitious loans to gain access to money in an alternative mutual fund, known as the Beyond Income Fund. Mr. Thibeault co-managed the fund, which invested in consumer debt. Alternative investments are frequently investments which are not directly tied to a stock or bond index.

Over $35 million dollars of loans had been issued from the fund. Mr. Thibeault allegedly took over $12 million dollars through an intermediary. The money from the loans made through the intermediary, Taft Financial Services, did not go to individual borrowers, however, but to a GL-controlled bank account, according to the FBI.

FINRA Fines 10 Firms $43.5 Million for Conflicts of Interest by Research Analysts in Advance of an IPO

December 17, 2014 | Silver Law Group

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined 10 brokerage firms a total of $43.5 million for allowing their analysts to solicit investment banking business and for offering favorable research coverage in connection with the 2010 IPO of Toys R Us.

Firms and fines:

Barclays Capital	$5 million
Citigroup Global Market	$5 million
Credit Suisse	$5 million
Goldman Sachs	$5 million
JP Morgan Sec	$5 million
Deutsche Bank	$4 million
Merrill Lynch	$4 million
Morgan Stanley	$4 million
Wells Fargo	$4 million
Needham & Co.	$2.5 million

For the complete FINRA Press Release, click here. These allegations are remarkably reminiscent of claims investors made against FINRA firms relating to the collapse of technology stocks in 2000 including allegations that FINRA firms used its research analysts as cheerleaders for its investment banking departments publishing biased research to help boost IPO’s. A decade later, it does not appear that much has changed on Wall Street.

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.

Former LPL Broker Travis Wetzel Pleads Guilty to Defrauding an Elderly Client

December 8, 2014 | Silver Law Group

Travis Wetzel of Frederick, Maryland has pleaded guilty to wire fraud relating to a fraudulent scheme to steal over 1.2 million dollars from an elderly client’s annuity account.

According to the government press release, Wetzel processed financial distribution documents for his investment advisory firm located in Rockville, Maryland. According to his plea agreement, from July 2010 to September 2012, Wetzel took a total of approximately $1,282,224 from an annuity account of an elderly client without the client’s knowledge, and used the money for his personal benefit. Wetzel knew that the client was elderly, whose age and physical condition would facilitate repeatedly taking money from the client’s account. Wetzel also laundered some of the money he took by transferring the money to other bank accounts he controlled.

We are currently involved in multiple cases against brokerage firms for mismanagement of elderly investors’ accounts and/or improper conflicts of interest between the financial advisor and the customer. We routinely work closely with estate planning attorneys to help resolve disputes between family members regarding the management of an elderly family member’s financial affairs and we are frequently consulted regarding the improper sale of securities or mismanagement of the portfolio by a fiduciary, trustee or other trusted advisor.

FINRA Hits Newport Coast Securities and Its Representatives with Churning Charges

August 14, 2014 | Silver Law Group

Last week, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) filed charges against Newport Coast Securities, Inc. (“Newport Coast”) and some of its current and former registered representatives, accusing them of using margin and risky securities to artificially generate huge commissions for themselves while wiping out most of their customers’ investment capital.

Newport Coast, a New York-based broker-dealer, by and through brokers Douglas Leone, Andre LaBarbera, David Levy, Antontio Costanzo, and Donald Bartlet, allegedly churned the accounts of twenty four customers — many of whom are retirees — causing more than $1,000,000 in losses to the investor-clients. “Churning,” as it is known in the industry, is the act of a broker who excessively and needlessly engages in trading in a client’s account primarily to generate commissions for the broker on each trade without regard for the client’s financial well-being. Churning is an illegal and unethical practice that violates SEC rules and securities laws. The brokers are also purported to have created new account forms for their victimized clients that misstated the clients’ net worth, investment experience, and objectives; and two of the brokers (Levy and Costanzo) attempted to dissuade several customers from cooperating with FINRA’s investigation into the matter — all of which was done to cover up the illegality of the brokers’ excessive activity in the client accounts.

According to FINRA, former Newport Coast supervisors Marc Arena and Roman Luckey saw what was transpiring but took no meaningful steps to curtail the misconduct. To the contrary, the firm’s managers, supervisors, and the former President of the company allegedly profited through overrides on the churned accounts.