Investment Fraud Lawyer Blog

In the Medical Capital Receiver case, the SEC Receiver recently filed the “Receiver’s Proposed Plan for Distribution” (the “Plan”) which contains some disturbing news for those investors who were pro-active and obtained recoveries against third-parties through litigation (including class actions) or arbitration. As proposed in the Plan (set forth on Page 14 section 4) the Receiver would deduct any funds that an investor received from third-parties in arbitration or litigation dollar for dollar against any sums that would be due from the Receiver.

Continue reading "SEC Receiver's Plan is Unfair to Proactive Medical Capital Noteholders" »

Broker-dealers that sold billions of dollars in fraudulent private placements, such as Medical Capital and Provident Royalties notes, “failed massively in their due diligence responsibilities to investors” according to Gordon Yale, a CPA and expert witness in securities fraud cases. (See “Private-placement due diligence ‘sloppy,’” Investment News). They grossly misrepresented investigations into the investments and issuers they claimed to have performed, and, in fact, merely relied on self-serving representations made by management that were false and fraudulent.

Continue reading "Expert Contends that Brokerage Firms are Failing to Satisfy their Due Diligence Obligations." »

Securities America is on the shopping block, according to an InvestmentNews article by Bruce Kelly entitled “Ameriprise shopping Securities America.” The firm was sued along with Ameriprise Financial by a class of people who purchased hundreds of millions of fraudulent securities issued by Medical Capital and Provident Royalties. Ameriprise Financial is the corporate parent of Securities America.

Continue reading "Troubled Securities America is "For Sale"" »

InvestmentNews has reported that FINRA has issued the first in an anticipated series of sanctions against broker-dealers and executives of firms who sold private placements in two alleged Ponzi schemes. The actions were taken against Workman Securities Corp and Askar Corp for deficient investigation and due diligence associated with the sale of high risk investments.. The investments involved were Medical Capital Holdings Inc and Provident Royalties LLC who were charged with fraud by the SEC in 2009.

Continue reading "Regulators Issue Sanctions Against Brokers for Misconduct in Private Offerings (Reg D Offerings)" »

A federal judge has refused to approve a proposed class action settlement between Securities America and a class of people who purchased hundreds of millions of fraudulent securities issued by Medical Capital and Provident Royalties, that were sold by Securities America. See Dan Levine’s and Joseph Giannone’s article in Reuters captioned, “Judge rejects settlement with Ameriprise unit,” and Bruce Kelly’s InvestmentNews article, “CFO: Securities America on the brink without legal settlement.”

Continue reading "Judge Rejects Securities America's Attempts to Settle Class Actions Involving Medical Capital Notes and Provident Royalties Securities" »

Expecting licensed professionals who provide investment advice to act in their clients’ best interests “should be a basic tenet of the business,” but brokerage firms and their brokers don’t want that fiduciary yoke, says Karen Blumenthal in her InvestmentNews article, “When Your Adviser Can’t Be Trusted.” Moreover, they don’t want the public to know that they don’t want to be held to a fiduciary standard. So, while brokerage firms profess to be trusted advisers or like a member of a client’s family in their advertising, their lobbyists are working hard to persuade the SEC to weaken the “devil in the details” definition of the term “fiduciary” for purposes of governing brokers’ relationships with customers.

Continue reading "Are Brokerage Firms Really the Trusted Financial Advisers that Their Advertisements Claim that They Are?" »

Securities America, Inc., the Ameriprise Financial affiliate that sold hundreds of millions of dollars of fraudulent private placements issued by Medical Capital Corp. and Provident Royalties LLC, is trying to force a class action settlement in connection with investors who purchased Medical Capital Notes though Securities America. The proposed settlement would protect millions of dollars of its assets from defrauded investors and allow it to stay in business, according to InvestmentNews articles by Bruce Kelly entitled “Lawsuits suck air out of Securities America’s cash cushion,” and “Ameriprise reaches $27M settlement over private placements: Attorney.”

Continue reading "Ameriprise and its Securities America Affiliate Seek to Use a Legal Loophole to Avoid Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Legal Exposure" »

The new whistleblower program that pays big cash rewards for tips about investment fraud has already resulted in a large number of high quality tips to the SEC, according to a news story this week on CNBC. According to the report, the SEC expects to receive 30,000 tips this year—just one year after the program was created under the Dodd-Frank financial reform act. SEC Enforcement Director is quoted as saying “we’re gonna get information hopefully sooner on in the life cycle of a fraudulent scheme, so there’s less investor loss, less harm.” In addition to helping the feds detect fraud in the securities industry, however, the program promises to pay big financial rewards to the whistleblowers whom report it.

Continue reading "Wall Street Whistleblower Program Already Paying Off" »

According to a recent article in InvestmentNews, Securities America faces 150 or so arbitration claims seeking recovery of $90 million of investor losses associated with its sale of Medical Capital Notes. The claims are shaping up to be a significant problem for Securities America and its parent company Ameriprise Financial, Inc. On New Year’s Eve, Securities America was hit with a 1.2 million dollar award in connection with its sale of the Medical Capital Notes. The award included $734,000 in compensatory damages, $250,000 in punitive damages and $171,000 in attorney and expert fees.

Continue reading "Securities America's Medical Capital Notes "Nightmare" Continues" »

On New Year’s Eve, Securities America was hit with a $1.2 million award as a result of its sale of Medical Capital Notes. The award included $734,000 in compensatory damages, $250,000 in punitive damages and $171,000 in attorney and expert fees. According to attorney Pratt H. Davis at Page Perry, LLC, a securities arbitration and litigation firm currently handling millions of dollars of Securities America claims, “the award of punitive damages by a FINRA panel is a foreboding sign for Securities America going forward as punitive damages are rarely awarded in FINRA arbitrations.”

Continue reading "Investor in Medical Capital Notes Recovers $1.2 Million from Securities America" »

Wall Street may face a wave of lawsuits under an expanded version of the Martin Act, New York’s securities anti-fraud statute, if the newly elected Governor of New York has his way, according to a Wall Street Journal Deal Journal blog entitled, “And the Next Mortal Threat to Wall Street Is…”.

Continue reading "Proposed Changes to New York Law Would Make Wall Street More Accountable" »

Scams will always be with us but they are especially plentiful when traditional investments like stocks and bonds are not doing well, according to John Waggoner of USAToday in his August 5, 2010 article, “Investment Scams Thriving.”
"It's pretty bad out there," Texas Securities Commissioner Denise Voigt Crawford was quoted as saying. The primary victims are those trying to make up losses in their 401(k) plans and stock portfolios, she added.

Continue reading "Regulators Report that Investment Scams are on the Rise" »

According to a recent article in InvestmentNews and a recently filed court exhibit, securities regulators were concerned about Medical Capital’s lack of audited financial information five years before Medical Capital Holdings Inc.'s private-placement financings imploded and wiped out $1.1 billion in investors' cash.

Continue reading "Red Flags Concerning Medical Capital Notes Existed as Early as 2004" »

Private placement offerings (also known as Reg D offerings), such as Medical Capital Holdings Inc. and Provident Royalties LLC, have devastated unsuspecting investors. Such offerings, as well as the unscrupulous broker-dealers who pushed them, have wound up in the crosshairs of state securities regulators. See “Cracking Down on ‘Private Placement’ Investments,” March 27, 2010, Wall Street Journal, by Jane J. Kim.

Continue reading "The Hammer is Coming Down on Private Placement (Reg D) Offering Scams" »

According to a recent Bloomberg National Poll, more than 50% of Americans despise Wall Street and favor punishment of the bankers who caused the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The majority of poll participants -- 56 percent -- say big financial companies are more interested in enriching themselves at the expense of ordinary people.

Continue reading "It's Official - Most Americans Despise Wall Street" »

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Securities Division recently filed a Complaint (“Complaint”) that makes some startling allegations about Securities America’s actions in selling Medical Capital Notes. The collapse of the Medical Capital investments has left investors nationwide in the hole to the tune of about $1 billion.

Continue reading "Securities America Faces a New Wave of Medical Capital Problems" »

The Massachusetts Securities Division recently filed a complaint against Securities America related to its private offerings of Medical Capital Notes. The collapse of the Medical Capital investments has left investors nationwide in the hole to the tune of about $1 billion.

Continue reading "Evidence Against Securities America Mounts in Medical Capital Cases" »

Private investments (also known as private placements or Reg D offerings) have been the subject of a growing number of fraud charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and some states. Such deals, including oil and gas ventures and real estate partnerships, have historically been capitalized by sales to individual investors through independent broker-dealers. Promoters of these investments depend upon this channel to raise money and the broker dealers reap rich commissions on the private placements with loads up to 30%.

Continue reading "Reg D Offerings and Other Private Investments Expose Investors to Huge Risks" »

The Receiver for Medical Capital Holdings Inc. issued his Third Report on October 9, 2009. The most recent report did contain some additional information but was, in most part, a recap of what was included in the Second Report. The reports can be found at http://www.medicalcapitalreceivership.com. Nothing in the Third Report indicates any greater likelihood of recovery for investors directly from Medical Capital. As indicated in the reports, out of the 104 medical accounts receivable clients listed, 53 of the accounts, totaling some $542,894,528, appear to no longer exist.

Continue reading "Medical Capital Holdings Alert - Investors Face Tremendous Losses" »

The Receiver for Medical Capital Holdings Inc. issued his Second Report on September 7, 2009. According to the Report the estimate for the amount of money raised through the six offerings is $1.778 billion with $268 million in administrative fees taken and a staggering $1.079 billion still due investors. On July 16, the SEC charged Medical Capital Holdings Inc. with fraud related to the sale of $77 million of private securities in the form of notes.

Continue reading "Medical Capital Holdings Update: Receiver Estimates Over $1 Billion Due Investors" »