Condominium developers in Miami are turning to a new source of financing – buyer deposits – to fund the construction of the next wave of condo buildings, now that bank loans have become more difficult to get. Some of the developments using buyer financing include: MyBrickell, located at 30 SE Sixth Street Millecento, a 42-story […]
Two former LatAm Investments brokers overcharged customers $36 million by using hidden markup fees on structured notes transactions, according to SEC fraud charges. Fabrizio Neves allegedly conducted the scheme while working at LatAm Investments LLC, a broker-dealer that is no longer in business. He was assisted by Jose Luna, says the SEC. The pair defrauded […]
Research analysts solicited investment banking business and attempted to arrange a payment from a public company, according to FINRA charges against Rodman & Renshaw LLC. The firm was fined for supervisory and other violations related to the interaction between the firm’s research and investment banking functions. Rodman’s former CCO, William A. Iommi Sr., was fined […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, recently remanded the long term disability case of Leah A. Bilyeu v. Morgan Stanley Long Term No. 10-16070 Disability Plan back to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona after the plaintiff appealed the termination of her long-term disability benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security […]
Florida and New York investors are among the 200 victims of a $7 million Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Ricardo Bonilla Rojas and his firm Shadai Yire, according to SEC allegations. Rojas actively solicited investors through personal discussions with individuals both over the phone and in person, and he also marketed the investment opportunity in presentations […]
A whistleblower who helped stop a multi-million dollar fraud will receive a $50,000 payment from the SEC. The award represents 30 percent of the amount collected in an SEC enforcement action against the perpetrators of the scheme, the maximum percentage payout allowed by the whistleblower law. The name of the recipient was not disclosed. The […]
Paul Burks of Lexington, N.C. and his company Rex Venture Group have raised $600 million from more than one million Internet customers nationwide and overseas through the website ZeekRewards.com since January 2011, according to SEC allegations. The SEC recently announced fraud charges and an emergency asset freeze to halt the Ponzi scheme on the verge […]
Jim Donnan, a College Football Hall of Fame inductee who guided teams at Marshall University and the University of Georgia and later became a television commentator, conducted a Ponzi scheme fraud with his business partner Gregory Crabtree through a West Virginia-based company called GLC Limited, according to SEC allegations. Other college coaches and former players […]
A boiler room scheme that used high-pressure sales tactics to raise up to $5.7 million from 150 investors through the fraudulent sale of five unregistered securities offerings involving a group of related entities triggered SEC charges against Edward M. Laborio and others. The scheme ran from approximately December 2006 to August 2009. Laborio, formerly of […]
FINRA has expelled WJB Capital Group, a privately held broker-dealer, for misstating its financial records and for engaging in securities transactions while it was below its required net capital. Chief Executive Officer Craig A. Rothfeld was barred from the securities industry, and Chief Financial Officer Gregory S. Maleski was barred from acting in a principal […]
