$70 MILLION Recovery for Investment Fraud

$44 MILLION Recovery for Ponzi Scheme Victims

$25 MILLION Recovery Against National Brokerage Firm

$9.1 MILLION FINRA Arbitration Award Against Brokerage Firm

$7.9 MILLION Securities Arbitration Award Against Stockbroker

$1 MILLION Securities Arbitration Award for Elder Financial Fraud

Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog

Cold Calling Stockbrokers aren’t Only on Long Island

January 7, 2015 | Silver Law Group

Dialing for dollars has always been a popular method for young stockbrokers to solicit new customers. Although cold calling has been dramatized in movies such as Glen Gary Glenn Ross and the Wolf of Wall Street, it still apparently also serves major global financial institutions as a successful marketing tool. Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay $400,000 for telemarketing compliance violations to the N.H. Bureau of Securities Regulation which alleges Merrill Lynch failed to ‘fully understand’ how to comply with telemarketing rules and cold calls were made to potential clients on the do-not-call lists. Cold call violations have recently re-appeared on regulators radar screen after Edward Jones & Co agreed to pay $750,000 to settle similar charges. As part of the settlement, Merrill Lynch agreed to enhance its telemarketing policies and procedures. However, Merrill Lynch apparently recognizes this time honored method of chasing potential clients and will continue to use it as part of its sales techniques.

Regulators including the SEC and FINRA have issued investor bulletins warning investors to be dubious of cold calling financial advisors. Investors should investigate any advisor prior to sending money to someone they met over the phone. Amongst other due diligence techniques, investors can use FINRA’s BrokerCheck system to get basic background information about a financial advisor including employment history and potentially other customer complaints.

If you invested money based upon a telephone call, you may be entitled to recover some of you investment losses. Our law firm has represented many investors who ultimately regretted taking a cold call because the brokerage firm churned their account or otherwise invested in unsuitable products. Please call our securities law firm toll free at (800) 975-4345 to speak to an attorney to find out how we may be able to help you recover some of your investment losses.

JPMorgan Chase Settles Investor Class Action Relating to Forex Trading

January 7, 2015 | Silver Law Group

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the first bank in a multi-defendant class action lawsuit to settle claims relating to allegations that the banks rigged the foreign exchange market. Commonly referred to as the Forex market, over 5 trillion dollars a day is traded as investors rely on the honesty of the marketplace to trade currencies. According to various news reports, Chase has agreed to pay about $100 million under the agreement. A Federal Judge in New York must still approve the settlement. This settlement comes on the heels of a regulatory settlement where JPMorgan agreed to pay $1 billion as part of $4.3 billion in fines paid by six banks to resolve foreign-exchange rate investigations by regulators in the U.S., the U.K. and Switzerland.

Wall Street’s largest banks were some of the largest traders in foreign currency. However, despite the façade of respectability large banks claim, traders allegedly frequently communicated in chat rooms using names such as “The Cartel,” “The Bandits’ Club” and “The Mafia” to share confidential client information and manipulate certain benchmark rates. Investors were harmed by trading at manipulated prices and frequently paying substantial fees, costs and commissions for investors Forex trading activity.

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. Our attorneys have represented investors in Forex cases and in NFA arbitrations against registered commodities firms. 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.

FINRA Files Disciplinary Charges against Cantella & Co., Inc.

January 2, 2015 | Silver Law Group

Cantella & Co., Inc., of Boston, Massachusetts, submitted an AWC with FINRA in which the firm was censured, fined $50,000 and required to pay $81,973.65, plus interest, in restitution to customers for allegations relating to excessive commissions. Without admitting or denying the findings, Cantella consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it charged customers excessive commissions on equity and options transactions. The findings stated that in connection with certain purchases and sales of primarily low-priced securities, the commissions the firm charged were not fair and reasonable. The transactions resulted in approximately $120,000 in excessive charges. The firm has already repaid customers approximately $42,000 of these excessive commissions related to equity transactions. The firm also charged $4,658.22 in excessive commissions in connection with options transactions. The findings also stated that the firm failed to create or follow an adequate supervisory system for the review of commissions charged. The firm blindly followed an automated commission schedule instead of reviewing each trade for fairness. (FINRA Case #2011025431801)

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases for claims including stockbroker misconduct, excessive fees or commissions and penny stock fraud. 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.

FINRA Files Disciplinary Charges against Aon Douglas Miller

January 2, 2015 | Silver Law Group

Aon Douglas Miller, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was named a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that he participated in private securities transactions with various entities in which four of his member firm’s customers invested a total of $1,550,000. The complaint alleges that at no time were any of the entities in which the customers invested on the list of approved investment products at Miller’s firm. Miller did not provide prior written notice or a full and detailed description of the investment to his firm about any of the transactions. Aon Miller allegedly sold investments in the CDP real estate investment, a chemical company referred to as KBI and promissory notes in a company called CTL.

Miller was registered with several brokerage firms in the last several years including Benjamin F. Edwards & Co., Inc., Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC and Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments. (FINRA Case #2012034393801)

If you invested money with Aon Douglas Miller, you may be entitled to recover some of you investment losses from his employers. Broker-dealers have a duty to supervise the activities of their advisors. Many broker-dealers turn a blind eye or ignore questionable red flags which can lead to liability. Please call our securities law firm toll free at (800) 975-4345 to speak to an attorney to find out how we may be able to help you recover some of your investment losses.

FINRA Suspends Registered Individuals for Violations of FINRA Rules – 4

December 30, 2014 | Silver Law Group

According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for November, 2014, the following individuals were suspended from FINRA and cannot currently work for a FINRA brokerage firm for failing to provide FINRA with information it requested or to keep information current with FINRA pursuant to FINRA rules:

NAME	FORMER EMPLOYERS
Emily Maureen Allred	JP Morgan Securities LLC
Emily Maureen Allred	Chase Investment Services Corp.
Edwin Alvarez	CCO Investment Services Corp.
Edwin Alvarez	MML Investors Services, LLC
Corina Oikam Chan	Metlife Securities Inc.
Jenna Lynn Connett	Morgan Stanley
Jenna Lynn Connett	Citigroup Global Markets Inc.
Karl Robert Dierman	MML Investors Services, LLC
Karl Robert Dierman	Royal Alliance Associates, Inc.
Luis Espinoza
David Jay Homan	Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC
David Jay Homan	UBS Financial Services Inc.
Charles Damien Johnson	Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd
Charles Damien Johnson	Global Arena Capital Corp
Jonathan Ellsworth LaBarre	Fifth Third Securities, Inc.
Jonathan Ellsworth LaBarre	Key Investment Services LLC
David Alexander Lange	Lincoln Financial Securities Corp
David Alexander Lange	Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.
Edward Beale McLean IV	First Heartland Capital, Inc.
Edward Beale McLean IV	New England Securities
Lori Ann Monte	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.
Lori Ann Monte	Morgan Stanley DW Inc.
Ashley Platt
Kamil Z. Rak	Country Capital Management Company
German Francisco Rivero-Zerpa	Grenel & Co, LLC
German Francisco Rivero-Zerpa	Avila Capital Markets, Inc.
Jeffery Alan Schumaker	Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc.
Jeffery Alan Schumaker	Pruco Securities Corporation
Edward Robert Sitton	Morgan Stanley
Edward Robert Sitton	Raymond James & Associates, Inc.
Frederick Paul Skoda	Country Capital Management Company
Kathy Jo Springer-Hesman	Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.
Kathy Jo Springer-Hesman	Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc.
Tony Edward Tucker, Jr.	EDI Financial, Inc.
Tony Edward Tucker, Jr.	Franklin Financial Services Corp.

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.

FINRA Suspends Registered Individuals for Violations of FINRA Rules – 3

December 30, 2014 | Silver Law Group

According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for November, 2014, the following individuals were suspended from FINRA for failing to comply with a FINRA arbitration award or settlement agreement pursuant to FINRA rules:

NAME	FORMER EMPLOYERS
Niyukt Raghu Bhasin	NSM Securities, Inc.
Niyukt Raghu Bhasin	Max International Broker/Dealer Corp.
William Dean Chapman, Jr.	Alexander Capital Advisers
Ronald Moschetta	Todd and Company, Inc.
Ronald Moschetta	Strasbourger Pearson Tulcin Wolff Inc.
Arthur James Penna	Eagle One Investments, LLC
Arthur James Penna	ING Financial Partners, Inc.
Wayne Timothy Roys	First National Capital Markets
Wayne Timothy Roys	Key Investment Services LLC
Matthew Albert Ryer	Avenir Financial Group
Matthew Albert Ryer	Blackwall Capital Markets, Inc.
Matthew A. Tarrance	Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC
Matthew A. Tarrance	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.

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.

FINRA bars Aegis Capital Corp Broker Malcom Segal from Securities Industry Over Allegations of Outside Business Activities

December 26, 2014 | Silver Law Group

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently barred former Aegis Capital Corp.(Aegis) broker Malcom Segal (Segal) alleging that Segal may have engaged in unauthorized transfers of funds from customer accounts to an outside business activity (a/k/a “selling away“).

Segal was a broker for Aegis from 2011 until July 2014 when he was terminated by Aegis for failing to cooperate with an internal investigation into a customer complaint alleging he made unauthorized wire transfers from a customer’s account. Segal operated from Boynton Beach, Florida and Langhorne, Pennsylvania.

Aegis appears to be distancing itself from Mr. Segal by alleging he was not operating with Aegis’ permission. Frequently referred to as selling away, firms may still be liable for a broker’s actions because it has a duty to properly monitor and supervise its employees.

Federal Judge Refuses to Dismiss Clearing Firm Claims against Pershing

December 26, 2014 | Silver Law Group

A Federal Judge has denied Pershing LLC’s request to dismiss all claims against it for serving as the clearing firm in Allen Stanford’s multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. According to the Complaint, Pershing allegedly aided the scheme perpetrated through Stanford Group Co. U.S. and the Judge held that “Pershing’s role as a clearing broker is no impediment to imposing liability. … Plaintiffs make a number of allegations that, when viewed in a light most favorable to plaintiffs, support a reasonable inference that Pershing knew of the underlying fiduciary breaches.” The court found that the plaintiffs sufficiently pled substantial assistance to Stanford and participation in breach of fiduciary duty.

The Plaintiffs allege as clearing broker for the Stanford businesses between December 2005 and December 2008, Pershing was integral to the fraud, completing the sale of at least $500 million of the bogus investments while holding all of the cash and securities of Stanford customer. According to the Complaint, Pershing ignored obvious red flags in the way Stanford conducted business, including the offshore transfers of funds and high salaries Stanford paid brokers, in favor of continuing the lucrative relationship. Despite internal concerns about the validity of Stanford’s business and abundant red flags, Pershing held off from filing a suspicious activity report with regulators and continued to participate in the purchase and sale of the dubious investments, the complaint claims.

This is an important court decision for any customer considering pursuing claims against a clearing broker. In many instances, clearing brokers provide all back office support for small or poorly capitalized broker-dealers. Although clearing firms frequently try to get claims against them dismissed claiming they only performed ministerial tasks, the reality is the clearing firms offer substantial assistance to the introducing firms including the extension of margin or other financing arrangements. As the Pershing case highlights, clearing firms are also in a position to see red flags of misconduct or aid and abet the misconduct of the introducing firm.

SEC Charges Boiler Room with Being a Fraud Targeting Seniors

December 22, 2014 | Silver Law Group

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged New York-based Premier Links, Inc., its former president, and two cold callers formed a fraudulent boiler room scheme targeting retirees and elderly to invest in speculative or high risk companies with limited or no real chance of making a profit.

The SEC alleges that Dwayne Malloy, Chris Damon, and Theirry Ruffin victimized vulnerable older investors using investors’ money for their own personal gain. Premier Links Inc. cold called investors using high-pressure sales tactics to convince seniors to invest in companies which would soon have initial public offerings (IPOs). They never disclosed to the investors that only a small fraction of the money would be transmitted to the promoted companies, and Premier Links diverted investor funds to other entities controlled by the sales representatives or other associates for their own use and benefit.

Premier Links, Malloy, Damon, and Ruffin were never registered with FINRA or as stockbrokers and fraudulently obtained over $8 million from more than 300 victims across the USA by building a relationship of purported trust and confidence with them. The SEC alleges that the defendants rarely even invested the money in the companies they were pitching.