Securities Attorney Ferndale

Cyber Security Knowledge Protects Your Investments

Anyone who has had a bad experience purchasing a product that was advertised through an ad online is aware of the potential for becoming a victim of a retail cyber scam. Gen Digital, Inc., a multinational cybersecurity and digital technology company provides...

Highlights from the NASAA 2025 Enforcement Report

Founded in 1919, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) is the oldest international investor protection organization. NASAA’s primary goal is to advocate and act for the protection of investors, especially those who lack the expertise,...

Overview of the Types of Investment Fraud (Part 2)

Knowledge of the most common types of investment fraud can help to curtail this type of fraud which costs Americans billions each year. Unfortunately, many of those who lose investment income are seniors who are particularly vulnerable to scams. The U.S. Securities...

Overview of the Types of Investment Fraud (Part 1)

Investment fraud in 2025 was on track to continue the steady year-to-year increase that has existed since 2020. Americans lost $3.5 billion in investment fraud and scams in just the first half of 2025 and that figure is projected to rise above the $5.8 billion in...

Focus Areas of SEC Enforcement Actions

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) was founded in 1934 during the Great Depression. The SEC's mission is to "protect investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation" with the end goal of making a...

SEC Targets Pennsylvania Firms in $770M ATM Case

There were over 500,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) in the United States in 2023.1 While it might seem that Americans like to pay with credit cards, according to Federal Reserve research the average American carries $67 in cash and has $306 in cash stored...

Avoiding SEC Violations: Resources for Small Businesses

Starting up and operating a small business has many challenges. Knowledge of rules and regulations is one of the most challenging activities for many small business owners. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provides a range of resources to help small...

What to Do if You Get a Subpoena from the SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a federal government agency charged with protecting investors and ensuring fair and efficient capital markets, making sure that investment advisors, stock exchanges and other market participants comply with U.S....

FINRA Marks 10 Years of Helping Vulnerable Senior Investors

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private, not-for-profit membership organization of U.S. broker-dealers that is charged with protecting investors and safeguarding the capital markets.1 FINRA is responsible under federal law for supervising its...

What You Should Know About Self-Directed IRA’s

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently brought an action against a former real estate investment company chief executive officer who they allege defrauded investors of $46 million by selling them fake interests in real estate investment limited...

SEC Warns Investors About Relationship-Based Investment Scams

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that in 2024 alone $672 million dollars was fraudulently taken from victims of confidence/romance scams with those over 60, as a group, reporting the most losses and submitting the most complaints to the FBI’s Internet...

FINRA Cracks Down on Firms Withholding Mutual Fund Fee Waivers

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has been focused on investment firms that are not reimbursing their customers for mutual fund sales charge waivers and fee rebates. In December FINRA ordered three firms to pay their customers more than $8.2 million...

Protect Yourself from Deceptive Investment Practices and Firms

Investors are continually looking for ways to increase their profits on investments, especially in periods of economic downturn. Investment opportunities are often pitched to investors through social media posts and investment-related chat groups online. In December...

Protect Investments from Generative Artificial Intelligence

There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about the power of artificial intelligence, often referred to as AI, which basically is” intelligence exhibited by machines, such as computer systems, ... that enables the machines to perceive their environment and...

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Settle SEC Charges

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to Pay $15M SEC Penalty for Failure to Prevent Financial Advisors’ Theft of Investor Funds Financial services firms have a duty and are required by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules to have supervisory and compliance...

JPMorgan Chase Affiliates to Pay Millions in Fines

JPMorgan Chase Affiliates to Pay $151 Million in SEC Enforcement Fines On October 31, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) resolved five separate enforcement actions against J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JPMS) and J.P. Morgan Investment Management, Inc....

SEC Charges “Magic Mushroom” Company with Pump and Dump Scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 9 charged two investors and Minerco, Inc., an inactive penny stock company, which was formerly MINE on an over-the-counter ticker, with defrauding investors in an $8 million pump and dump scheme.1 In this...

The Failure of the Structured Note. How Risky are They?

A Structured Note is a debt security issued by financial institutions. Its return is based on equity indexes, single equity, a basket of equities, interest rates, commodities, or foreign currencies. The performance of a Structured Note is linked to the return on an...

Drive Planning LLC and its Founder are Charged in Ponzi Scheme

SEC Charges Drive Planning LLC and its Founder with $300M Ponzi Scheme A Ponzi scheme is defined as an investment scam that promises a high rate of return with little risk to the investor and is one where early investors are paid with money taken from later investors...

SEC Charges GCZ Global and Triten Financial Group with a $60 Million Ponzi Scheme

SEC Charges Adam Brothers, GCZ Global and Triten Financial Group with a $60 Million Ponzi Scheme The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission halted another alleged Ponzi scheme, this one perpetrated by two brothers who lured investors with the promise of up to a 13.5...

Structured Notes and their Risks

A structured note is a debt security that combines multiple financial products into one, such as a bond and a derivative. The return on a structured note is based on the performance of an underlying asset, index, or group of assets, such as equity indexes,...

SEC Adopts T-1 Settlement Cycle

On May 28 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implemented a newly adopted rule which shortened the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer transactions from two business days (T+2) to one business day after the trade date (T+1).1 When the settlement...

Resources for Investors Available from the SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) not only has broad authority over all aspects of the securities industry but is also charged with protecting investors.1 One of the ways the SEC does this is by making educational resources available to the investing...

Genesis Global Capital Violates Securities Laws

Genesis Global Capital to Pay SEC $21 Million for Violating Securities Laws On March 28 Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of the defunct crypto currency exchange FTX was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay a $11 billion fine for defrauding FTX users.1 When...

FINRA Finds Potential Violations in Crypto Asset Communications

FINRA Finds Many Potential Violations in Review of Crypto Asset Communications The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) was formed in July 2007 to regulate brokerage firms doing business with United States investors. FINRA is overseen by the U.S. Securities...

West Michigan Financial Advisor Guilty of Embezzling from Clients

On January 23, Jaime Westenbarger, who founded Forest Hills Financial, a financial services firm based in Ada, Michigan, pleaded guilty in Kent County Circuit Court to embezzling client funds. Westenbarger pleaded guilty to two count of embezzlement over $100,000,...

The Failure of the Structured Note. How Risky are They?

A Structured Note is a debt security issued by financial institutions. Its return is based on equity indexes, single equity, a basket of equities, interest rates, commodities, or foreign currencies. The performance of a Structured Note is linked to the return on an...

Risky Stock Causes Losses For Many Investors

Jumia Technologies (JMIA) is an African e-commerce online retailer technology company. It is a company built around a marketplace, logistics service and payment service. The logistics service enables the delivery of packages through a network of local partners while...

JP Morgan Chase Client with Dementia Loses $50 Million

Peter Doelger founded a Boston-based company in the 1970s which helped homeowners nationwide lower their energy bills through a network of contractors tasked with focusing on the homeowners’ attic insulation and windows. Honeywell bought the business in 1995 for an...

SEC Charges Kraken in Violation of US Securities Law

Kraken Charged by the SEC with Operating its Crypto Trading Platform in Violation of US Securities Law Kraken advertises itself as “the crypto exchange for everyone” that allows customers to buy crypto with “peace of mind.” The company website boasts of a quarterly...

FINRA Expels Monmouth Capital Management for Rules Violations

FINRA Expels Monmouth Capital Management for Rules Violations on Gold Star Family Accounts and Other Accounts Monmouth Capital Management was founded in 2018 in Holmdel, New Jersey, according to a Linked-In profile that lists the company as having 2-10 employees and 6...

Podcast Host Cash Flow King Charged by SEC

Podcast Host Cash Flow King Charged by SEC with Operating a Ponzi Scheme A podcast is similar to a radio talk show program but it is distributed in the form of a digital audio file that can be downloaded from the internet to a computer or mobile device. Podcasts are...

Impact Theory, a Media and Entertainment Company, Issued Cease and Desist Order by SEC

One of the most obvious warning signs that an investment may not be legitimate is the promise of high rates of return on the investment. According to Todd R. Tresidder, a Financial Mentor blogger and millionaire through investments, "above market returns are the...

Merrill Lynch to Pay $12M for Failing to File Suspicious Activity Reports

When criminals receive money from an illegal transaction they often move that "dirty" money into the financial system, either through depositing the illegal gains into a bank or credit union or investing the money with an investment firm or through a number of other...

Merrill Lynch Fails to Disclose Foreign Exchange Fees to Clients

Merrill Lynch Agrees to Pay $9.5 Million to Settle SEC Charges of Failing to Disclose Foreign Exchange Fees to Clients On April 3 the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. had agreed to settle...

Michigan Bank – Sterling Bancorp – Pleads Guilty to Securities Fraud

On March 15, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that Sterling Bancorp, Inc., headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, and the holding company for Sterling Bank and Trust F.S.B., has agreed to plead guilty to securities fraud.1 Sterling Bancorp has...

Loren Justin Morrison of Stifel , Nicolaus & Company

Did Loren J. Morrison Cause You Investment Losses? Loren J. Morrison of Stifel, Nicolaus & Company Has Customer Complaints for Alleged Broker Misconduct Who Is Loren J. Morrison Of Stifel, Nicolaus & Company? Loren J. Morrison (crd# 4578161) who is currently...

Has Any Financial Advisor Recommended FTX Stock for You to Buy?

Did Any Stockbroker or Financial Advisor Recommend You Invest in Crypto Currency Exchange FTX Causing You Losses? Schedule a Free Consultation On November 15, 2022, FTX Digital Markets, the Bahamas based unit of the recently collapsed cryptocurrency trading platform,...

Can You Sue Your Registered Investment Advisor?

Making good financial investment decisions often requires specialized knowledge and a considerable investment of time to understand and monitor the ever-changing market options. Over one third of investors in America, about 40 percent, rely on financial advisers to...

Goldman Sachs to Pay SEC Fine Related to ESG Investments

Goldman Sachs to Pay $4 Million SEC Fine Related to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investments In recent years there has been an emerging trend for investors to put their investment dollars into companies that are aligned with their own world view. These...

FTX and Cryptocurrency Fraud

Cryptocurrency has always been purported to be a risky investment by most prominent financial authorities. In September, Forbes Advisor published an article entitled "Crypto Winter is Here" detailing how, at that point, Bitcoin was 65 percent off its November 2021...

SEC Issues Update to the Public Alert

SEC Issues Update to the Public Alert: Unregistered Soliciting Entities (PAUSE) List The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) works diligently to provide investor education to the general public in an effort to reduce fraud and provide investors with tools to make...

Michigan Investment Advisor Agrees to Final SEC Judgement

Michigan Investment Advisor Steven F. Muntin Agrees to Final SEC Judgement on Fraud Allegations The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 11, 2022, permanently barred Steven F. Muntin from "acting as a broker or investment adviser or otherwise associating...

Michigan Securities Representative Submits Letter of Acceptance

Robert David Jr. Submits Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent to FINRA A Michigan securities representative filed a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) on March 31, 2022, with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) accepting, without...

Equitable Financial Sanctioned by SEC for Misleading Investors

Equitable Financial Sanctioned by SEC for Misleading Investors About Fees Investing your money doesn't come without a price tag. There are fees and cost associated with investment products and services and in order to invest wisely an investor should thoroughly...

SEC Alleges Schwab Robo-Adviser Clients Were Misled About Fees

On June 13 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged three Charles Schwab investment adviser subsidiaries with misleading Robo-Adviser clients about fees. In order to settle the charges, those three Charles Schwab subsidiaries -- Charles Schwab &...

SEC Halts Alleged Fraud by Detroit-based Hedge Fund Advisor

SEC Halts Alleged Fraud by Detroit-based EIA All Weather Alpha Fund I Partners On May 18, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint for injunctive and other relief against Michigan-based EIA All Weather Alpha Fund I Partners, a purported...

West Michigan Man Sentenced to Jail for Securities Fraud

Joshua Louis Rupp, 37, pleaded guilty in federal court in Grand Rapids and was sentenced in March to serve 16 years in jail for securities fraud. Rupp was already in prison serving a three year and nine month sentence, having pleaded no contest and been convicted of...

IRS Targets Syndicated Conservation Easements for Potential Tax Fraud

On August 25, 2020, the Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley and the Committees' ranking member, Ron Wyden, released a report on the Committee's investigation into syndicated conservation easements and possible tax fraud. The report detailed the investigation...

SEC Charges Precious Metals Company with Scheme Targeting the Elderly

When stock prices take a wild ride, or start plummeting, investors often seek out safer and more lucrative places to invest. A precious metals individual retirement account (IRA) may appeal to investors in this situation, as this type of IRA allows investors to hold...

Beware of High Return Certificates of Deposit Scams

A recent enforcement action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) highlights once again the need for investors to do their research on investment offerings and heed any warning signs that an investment may not be legitimate. In January, the SEC charged...

FINRA Fines Aegis Capital for Failure to Supervise Potentially Excessive Trading

FINRA Fines Aegis Capital $2.8M for Failure to Supervise Potentially Excessive Trading Brokerage firms that are members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) need to have supervisory systems in place that are reasonable designed to meet compliance...

Appointing a Trusted Contact for Investments

Appointing a Trusted Contact for Investments Advised by Government Agencies The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) receives and tracks thousands of complaints of fraud each day and then investigates those complaints,...

Radio Host Sentenced to Three Life Terms for Affinity Fraud Targeting Seniors

Affinity fraud occurs when a thief targets members of an identifiable group, like a religious group, senior citizens or an ethnic community, and then relies on his or her connection with members of the group to perpetrate investment fraud.1 Affinity scams very often...

FINRA Releases Research on Consumer Vulnerability to Financial Scams

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's Investor Education Foundation teamed up with the University of Minnesota and the Better Business Bureau's (BBB) Institute for Marketplace Trust to study why some consumers are more vulnerable to financial scams. The...

SEC Enforces Action Against TIAA Subsidiary

$97 Million SEC Enforcement Action Against TIAA Subsidiary for Retirement Rollover Recommendations A fiduciary, as defined by Investopedia.com, is "a person or organization that acts on behalf of another person or persons, putting their clients' interest ahead of...

UBS Fined $8M by the SEC for Unsuitable Sales of Exchange Traded Products

Daniel Michael, chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Division's Complex Financial Instruments Unit noted that it is an advisory firm's responsibility to protect its clients from inappropriate investments in complex financial...

Beware of How Social Media Influences Investing

Elon Musk, the chief executive office of TESLA has been reported by media outlets as touting Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency. In February, the Daily Mail reported that after Musk had been "tweeting relentlessly" promoting Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency jumped 21 percent in...

Financial Education Resources Make Investing Safer

Decisions on where to invest money are not easy to make. It takes knowledge of the investment being offered, good research into who is offering the investment, and an understanding of the common warning signs that an investment opportunity is not legitimate. ADT...

Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc. to Pay Millions for Supervisory Violations

Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc. to Pay $8.8 Million FINRA Sanction for Supervisory Violations On December 21, 2021, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc. (TFA) had agreed to pay an $8.8 million...

Investment Scam Complaints are on the Rise

Historically when times are uncertain and large numbers of people are unemployed, as they are during this pandemic, there is a rise in crime, including investment scams. According to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), investment scam...

Stefan He Qin Pleads Guilty to Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud

Bitcoin is one of the most widely recognized, and owned cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of over a trillion dollars in March 2021.1 Cryptocurrencies are digital assets designed to work as a medium of exchange. Unlike paper money, cryptocurrency doesn't...

Non-Traded Unsellable Real Estate Investment Trusts | Securities Law Firm MI

Sometime before our current economic woes, you may have invested in a publicly registered non-traded Real Estate Investment Trust. The product offered attractive yields from real estate investment. Hoping for growth that would be a source of income when it was time to...

Interactive Brokers, Robinhood Brokerage Affected by Stock Trading Outages

Interactive Brokers, the popular stock trading platform went down which left traders unable to place trades for several hours. Take a look at the article below posted by Annie Massa and Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou from Bloomberg. Outages at Interactive Brokers, Robinhood...

U.S. Department of Justice Issues Indictment Against BitMEX Crypto Currency Exchange Executives

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 1, 2020, unsealed a criminal indictment against four BitMEX executives for violations of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).1 It is a move that is noteworthy in that the "Department of...

SEC Form CRS: Why It Is Important to Review | Michigan Securities Law Office

This past summer, many investors received what looks like a form letter in the mail from their investment firms. At first glance, many investors may have been tempted to pitch that form letter in the recycling bin without thoroughly reading the contents. If the letter...

Concorde Investment Services in Livonia to Settle FINRA Allegations | Securities Law Firm MI

Concorde Investment Services in Livonia Proposes to Settle FINRA Allegations of Failure to Supervise a Registered Representative A Livonia, Michigan, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member, Concorde Investment Services, LLC, submitted a Letter of...

Wells Fargo Sanctioned by FINRA for Not Supervising Employees | MI Securities Law Firm

Wells Fargo Sanctioned by FINRA for Not Supervising Variable Annuity Transaction Switches to Other Company Products In February, Wells Fargo settled a civil lawsuit and criminal prosecution filed ty the U.S. Department of Justice stemming from the 2016 disclosure that...

Morgan Stanley Fined by FINRA | MI Securities Law Office

Morgan Stanley Fined by FINRA for Failing to Supervise a Registered Representative There are some investments that because of their upfront sales charges are only advantageous to investors if they are held for a long-term. On August 12, 2020, the U.S. Financial...

SEC Files Fraud Charges Involving NAC Foundation / AML Bitcoin – MI Securities Law Firm

Banks are subject to rules which require them to verify the identity of their customers. This is a problem for criminals who have large sums of cash from illegal activities. Increasingly, criminals have turned to cryptocurrency to launder their cash. Chainalysis, a...

SEC Settlement with Major Investment Firm Results in $5M Penalty – MI Securities Law Firm

SEC Settlement with Major Investment Firm Results in $5M Fund Benefitting Harmed Wrap Fee Program Investors Investment firm, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (MSSB), recently settled charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company...

What Does FINRA Do? | MI Securities Law Firm

Securities markets need broad public confidence in their integrity to function correctly. Without confidence in the markets, trading securities would entail an unacceptably high level of risk with untold consequences. Because most of the world’s investors believe that...

Was Your Portfolio Suitably Invested?

As we navigate and muddle through the calamity of the Corona Virus black swan (an unforeseen, unexpected event), we must assess (1) where our stock portfolio value is at and (2) why. Is the value lost acceptable considering the black swan or is the loss in value...

Farmington Hills Broker Charged With Improper Bond Transactions | Michigan

Farmington Hills Broker Discharged from Morgan Stanley amid Allegations of Improper Bond Transactions Robert C. David was a registered broker and investment adviser for Morgan Stanley in the Farmington Hills branch office from June 2009 until March 2019. According to...

Wells Fargo Settles with SEC Over Charges | MI Securities Law Firm

Wells Fargo Settles with SEC Over Charges Related to Single Inverse EFT Investments The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced on February 27, 2020, that it had settled charges it lodged against Wells Fargo Clearing Services and Wells Fargo Advisors...

Celebrity Endorsements and Investments | MI Securities Law Firm

The psychology behind celebrity endorsements of products seems simplistic. The human brain recognizes celebrities similarly to how it recognizes people we actually know.1 People feel that they know the celebrity and that they can trust the celebrity and when that...

SEC Charges Radio Investment Show Host with Defrauding Retirees

Keith Springer hosts the Smart Money with Keith Springer radio show which is broadcast on iHeartRadio, as well as on KFBK in the greater Sacramento, California, area. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged Springer and the firm he owns, Springer...

SEC Charges Healthcare Advertising Firm with Fraud | Michigan Securities Attorney

SEC Charges Former Executives of Healthcare Advertising Firm with $1 Billion Fraud Outcome Health, formerly named ContextMedia, offers their clients, which are primarily pharmaceutical companies, the opportunity to display the client's ads on televisions and other...

SEC Files Charges Against Binary Options Brokers

SEC Files Charges Against Binary Options Brokers LBinary and Ivory Options Two citizens of Israel, Anton Senderov and Lior Babazara (also known as Lior Bar), were charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 9, 2019, with causing over 2,800...

SEC Charges Spartan Securities Group and Island Capital Management with Fraud

SEC Charges Spartan Securities Group and Island Capital Management with Creating and Selling Fraudulent Companies In recent years, the micro-cap market has seen increased scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On February 20, 2019, the SEC filed a...

SEC Stops a Ferndale Michigan Securities Fraud Scheme

Antonio and John Bravata Stopped by SEC from Once Again Defrauding Investors Antonio M. Bravata, from Ferndale, Michigan, and his father, John Bravata, who is currently in prison, have been prevented from once again defrauding investors across Michigan and the nation....

IRS Cracks Down On Virtual Currency Owners

For tax purposes, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treats virtual currency and cryptocurrency as property. Taxpayers who receive virtual currency or cryptocurrency as payment for goods or services are required by the IRS to include the fair market value of the...

SEC Updates List of Firms Using Inaccurate Information Seeking Investors

PAUSE before you invest: Check the Recently Updated SEC List of Firms Using Inaccurate Information to Solicit Investors Several minutes of online research could protect your entire life savings. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently updated its...

Merrill Lynch Pays $8 Million to Settle SEC Charges | MI Securities Law Firm

Merrill Lynch Pays $8 Million to Settle SEC Charges of Improper Handling of "Pre-Released" American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) have been around since J.P. Morgan's predecessor pioneered the concept in 1927 as an easier way to...

Two Michigan Men Charged by SEC for Day-Trading Scheme

Two Michigan Men Charged by SEC for Roles in Fake Day-Trading Scheme There is a truth in investing that if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably isn't true. We all want a good bargain. Unfortunately, crooks and scammers know that, and they use these great...

Birmingham Michigan Financial Adviser Charged in $4 Million Investment Scam

On August 9, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged a former registered representative, John C. Maccoll, who was affiliated with the Birmingham, Michigan, branch of UBS Financial Services1, with defrauding brokerage customers out of almost $4 million in...

SEC Charges Major Investment Firms with Misconduct

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been busy protecting investors this summer and has brought charges against some larger investment firms, including Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MSSB) was charged by the SEC...

Southfield Investment Adviser Fined and Barred by the SEC | Michigan Securities Attorney

Broker fined, barred by SEC for cherry-picking By Ryan Neal Investment News SEC issues cease-and-desist order to brokerage, trader Agency says Roger Denha unfairly allocated investment profits to personal, family accounts SEC alleges broker obtained $412,230 in...

SEC Improves Assistance to Investors through New Investor Protection Search Tool and Roundtables with Chairman

In their ongoing effort to improve investor protection, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently launched two new initiatives. One is a new search tool aimed at helping investors avoid potential investment fraud.1 The other initiative is "Tell...

Wells Fargo Advisors Settles SEC Charges

The SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, has charged Wells Fargo Advisors with misconduct in the sale of MLIs to retail investors. MLIs are known as market-linked investments. This financial misconduct has imposed substantial costs on retail customers. Without...

Investment 101: Be Careful Who You Trust

Agatha Christie, the popular detective novel author, was once quoted as having said that where large sums of money are concerned it is advisable to trust no one. A federal court indictment issued on March 29 once again bears out the wisdom of Ms. Christie's statement....

Cryptocurrency Investment Warning: SEC Halts Alleged Initial Coin Offering Scam

Traditionally when purchasing goods or services, Americans used money, issued by the U.S. government and its fiscal agent, the Federal Reserve System. Then, in 2009, Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, was created. Wikipedia defines cryptocurrency as a digital asset...

Unregistered Broker Illegally Brokers Securities Sales

Edwin Shaw LLC, a New York based company, has been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with illegally brokering dozens of investments by foreign nationals seeking legal residency through the federal government’s EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. The case...

Manipulative Trading with U.S. Microcap Stocks

Millions of investors have lost money through brokerage fraud, misconduct and mismanagement. The following is an article about securities fraud involving a pump and dump scheme. SEC Charges U.K. Brokerage Firm, Investment Manager, CEO, and Others for Manipulative...

Exchange – Traded Notes and Risk

Below is a great article written by John Waggoner about exchange-traded notes. Exchange-traded notes add another layer of risk ETNs tied to volatility took a beating when stocks plunged The collapse of the VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short Term ETN (XIV) this...

Florida Penny Stock Investors Defrauding Elderly Investors

In the financial world of stocks, there is plenty to be leery about. Unfortunately, the elderly are a prime target for scammers. It is also unfortunate that many swindlers are repeat offenders. The SEC is working to “crack down” on individuals who have previously...

Recognizing the Signs of Investment Fraud Targeting Federal Retirement Investors

The SEC Warns Against Investment Fraud That Targets Seniors and Federal Retirement Investors In an effort to reduce potential securities investment fraud, the SEC is warning senior investors, retirees, and those with federal retirement investments to be leery of...

Pump and Dump Scheme Basics

Avoid financial losses by learning the basics of the common pump and dump scheme. What is Pump And Dump? Unscrupulous investors heavily promote a stock they plan to temporarily hold until the stock price is artificially boosted/inflated through false promotion,...

Former Michigan State Representative Under Investigation for Securities Fraud

Former Michigan State Representative, Fulton Sheen, Under Investigation for Securities Fraud Earlier this year, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Corporations Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau (CSCL) issued notices and...

Common Forms of Stockbroker Misconduct

Help your Clients: Watch for Financial Advisor/Stockbroker Misconduct or Negligence Financial Crime and stockbroker misconduct has increased in recent years. Many of its victims are unaware of their plight until their CPA raises questions about their portfolio of...

Securities and Licensing Bureau Revokes Registrations of Local Michigan Investment Advisors

Michigan Revokes Registrations of Investment Advisor Representative, Anthony Cherniawski and The Practical Investor LLC After Mulitple Complaints of Significant Financial Losses This September, Michigan LARA’s Corporation Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau...

Michigan Broker Facing Securities Fraud Charges

Shelby Township Broker, Ernest J. Romer, III, Facing Securities Fraud Charges From Michigan’s Licensing And Regulatory Affairs Department (LARA) August 2017- A Cease and Desist Order has been issued by Michigan’s Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Department (LARA)...

Malaysian Scandal – Efforts at Recovery of Losses

Final part in the Malaysian Scandal Series – Attorney Peter C. Rageas Helping Investors Recover Loses While Malaysia and Abu Dhabi are moving to clean up one part of the scandal: who would pay back investors who bought the bonds, it isn’t out of the woods yet. The Abu...

Malaysian Scandal – Helping Investors Recover Losses

Malaysian Scandal – Attorney Peter C. Rageas Helping Investors Recover Losses US Authorities Fight Against Illicit Finance US authorities allege that the stolen funds were funneled via a series of bank accounts and shell companies to partly finance the purchase of...

Securities Fraud Awareness in Michigan

As individuals invest their precious income, they depend on the veracity of the securities and commodities markets. Rest assured, that your government is actively investigating criminal activity in the financial markets, that could potentially harm investors. Although...

Ex Campbell Mayor Pleads Guilty in Securities Fraud Case

Securities fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets. Typically this practice entices investors to make sale or purchases on the basis of false information. This information frequently results in losses and is in violation of securities laws....

What is securities fraud in Michigan

Also known as investment fraud or stockbroker fraud, securities fraud is a misleading practice in the investment markets (stock or commodities) that persuades investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of fraudulent information. Inevitably, such...

SEC Charges Paxton With Securities Fraud

Yet another charge brought forth by the SEC, this time charging Ken Paxton for allegedly misleading investors in a technology company. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed the charges earlier this year. Paxton is faced with three felony counts, and has...

Securities and Exchange Commission Cracking Down on KGTA’s Fraudulent Trading Business

The Securities and Exchange Commission in text book fashion filed an emergency civil action in federal court charging principals in KGTA for participating in fraud. The SEC alleged investors were told that KGTA bought and resold refined fuel products, of which did not...

Christopher Tolmacs Banned from Securities Industry for Alleged Promissory Note Fraud

Christopher Tolmacs Allegedly Made Materially Misleading Statements and Omissions in Connection with Lending Arrangements with Customers Arrangements of His Brokerage Firm Christopher Tolmacs was permanently barred from the securities industry following an...

What is Securities Fraud and How Can a Fraud Attorney Help?

In general terms, fraud such as investment or securities can occur when a broker makes false statements regarding a company or the value of the related stock. The victims typically will make financial decisions based on such false information. Fraud can be at times...

Why Proving Securities Fraud is Important

Securities Litigation and Steps to Proving Fraud In the world of securities litigation, there are many factors to consider when making a claim. Ultimately it will come down to the facts and you best be prepared. Many article on the interenet discuss this topic....

Attorney Detroit Michigan Talks About Prosecution of Securities Fraud

Michigan Fraud Attorney, Peter C. Rageas has always been ready to examine and prosecute securities fraud Our focus on monetary fraud flows from a dedication to longstanding principles and goals that our markets should be fair. In service of these objectives, we have...

Michigan targets money scams against seniors

Michigan's New Laws for Securities Violations Here's how that would work: Michigan's new law provides an additional $500,000 penalty for securities violations involving investors who are age 60 or older. The extra penalty would be on top of a civil fine of $10,000 for...