The SEC today charged Rajarengan “Rengan” Rajaratnam for his role in the massive insider trading scheme spearheaded by his older brother Raj Rajaratnam and hedge fund advisory firm Galleon Management. The SEC alleges that from 2006 to 2008, Rengan Rajaratnam repeatedly received inside information from his brother and reaped more than $3 million in illicit […]
Craig Berkman, a former Oregon gubernatorial candidate who now lives in Florida, allegedly raised at least $13.2 million from 120 investors by selling membership interests in limited liability companies that he controlled. The SEC charges that Berkman defrauded investors by claiming special access to pre-IPO stock in Facebook, LinkedIn, Groupon, and Zynga. Instead of purchasing […]
Fort Lauderdale homeowners facing foreclosure should be aware of important court deadlines that can help them protect their legal rights. Be on guard against foreclosure rescue scams that promise to stop the foreclosure process for a fee. No one can guarantee that you will be approved for a loan modification, or that you will be […]
Households without emergency savings, or rainy day funds, were three times more likely than households with emergency savings to make a late mortgage payment—and almost twice as likely to be involved in a foreclosure. These differences exist even after controlling for other factors that can impact mortgage payment behavior—like income, education and geographic region, according […]
Investors are wise to be aware of business opportunity fraud. A former con artist advises “fast no’s and slow yes’s” when being asked to invest in a business opportunity. Watch this video to see how get-rich-quick schemes frequently proliferate during an economic downturn. Warning signs of business opportunity fraud are promises that sound too good to […]
Managers of private investment funds established solely to acquire the shares of Facebook and other Silicon Valley firms were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with misleading investors and pocketing undisclosed fees and commissions. The SEC alleges that the fund managers collectively raised more than $70 million from investors. Separately, the SEC charged SharesPost, […]
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the senior-most executives at formerly one of the nation’s largest mortgage companies with hiding the company’s deteriorating financial condition at the onset of the financial crisis. The plan backfired and the company lost 90 percent of its value in two weeks. The SEC alleges that Thornburg Mortgage Inc. […]
Nationwide Investment Firm, a Palm Beach County foreclosure rescue firm, is the target of increasing homeowner complaints. Clients allege that Nationwide promises to arrange short sales, negotiate loan modifications, or work with lenders to delay homeowner foreclosures, according to a lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County. Rather than getting help, however, unsuspecting victims actually sign […]
An elaborate mortgage fraud scheme ended with defendants Oscar Bravo, 58 of Port St. Lucie, Jorge Bravo, 57 of Miami, and Sean Dickens, 44, of West Melbourne, Florida being sentenced to thirty-seven (37) months in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. According to a press release issued by the U.S. […]
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has issued an Investor Alert called “It Pays to Understand Your Brokerage Account Statements and Trade Confirmations.” Investors are advised to carefully review their brokerage account statements every month, not just to confirm the balance but to also look for errors or signs of unauthorized trading or overcharges. Signs of […]