Wall Street Investment Fraud Lawyer Blog

On May 21, 2015 the Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against Gray Financial Group, Founder and President Laurence O. Gray, and co-CEO Robert C. Hubbard IV. According to the SEC, the advisory firm and the two executives breached their fiduciary responsibility by swaying Atlanta public pension find clients to invest in alternate investments funds offered…

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on May 12, 2015 that fraud charges were being filed against ITT Educational Services Inc., as well as Kevin Modany (chief executive officer), and Daniel Fitzpatrick (chief financial officer). According to the SEC, the national operators of for profit colleges and its two chief executives fraudulently concealed from ITT’s investors the…

On January 6, 2015, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published its tenth annual Regulatory and Examinations Priorities Letter. In that letter, FINRA identified five areas, which it described as “recurring challenges,” that have harmed investors and resulted in compliance and supervisory breakdowns at member firms. At the top of FINRA’s list of problem areas is…

A just-released government memorandum finds that people investing for retirement have lost billions of dollars as a result of abusive sales practices, and that brokers handling retirement accounts should be held to a stricter fiduciary duty standard to better protect workers’ retirement savings, according to an InvestmentNews article entitled “Brokers under White House scrutiny for…

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently filed fraud charges against a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based investment advisor and related funds in the federal district court for the Southern District of Florida. The SEC’s complaint names Frederic Elm (formerly known as Frederic Elmaleh), his unregistered advisory firm Elm Tree Investment Advisors LLC, and three funds: Elm Tree Investment Fund…

The collapse in oil prices was a major shock that took a lot of people by surprise. For years the story line had been that the world was running out of oil and America was dependent on foreign oil produced by governments not friendly to U.S. interests. With dwindling supplies, the price of oil had…

Investors have filed claims against UBS Wealth Management Americas totaling more than $900 million for losses in its Puerto Rican closed-end municipal bond funds, according to InvestmentNews, citing the company’s third quarter earnings report. The bond funds plummeted in value last year. UBS had sold more than $10 billion of the funds through 2012, according to…

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has filed a disciplinary action against SWS Financial Services Inc. (SWS) for failing to supervise unsuitable sales of variable annuities to investors, and failing to maintain and implement appropriate supervisory policies, according to a recent InvestmentNews article. FINRA is seeking undisclosed monetary sanctions for violations that occurred during the period…

On August 26, 2014, a federal district court in Atlanta ordered Blake Richards of Buford, Georgia to pay approximately $1.7 million of money that he obtained from investors by fraudulent means, plus interest of nearly $50,000 and a civil penalty of $80,000. The money is to be paid to and held by the district court until further…

As if ISIS terrorists, ebola, militarized police, and race riots are not enough, we now read in the Atlanta Business Chronicle that white collar crime is on the rise (“White Collar Crime Wave,” by Dave Williams, August 22-28, 2014). Prosecutors report a significant increase in white collar criminal activity, according to the article. One former…