According to Investopedia, affinity fraud is a type of investment fraud in which a con artist targets members of an identifiable group based on things such as race, age, religion, etc. The fraudster either is or pretends to be, a member of the group. These schemes work because the victims are more likely to trust […]
Half of Americans Can’t Spot Fraud – Investment Fraud Post
When I read a headline today in InvestmentNews that said “Financial Fraud is Rampant but Most People Can’t Spot It,” I wasn’t surprised. Because we only handle investment fraud cases with losses of $100,000 or more, most of our clients are savvy, sophisticated men and women. We have represented lawyers, doctors and bank vice presidents. […]
Nikolai Battoo – 10 Months Later
With great fanfare and a big press release, the SEC sued Nikolai Battoo, Tracy Sunderlage and BC Capital in September of 2012. A great number of stock fraud lawyers blasted the Internet hoping to drum up clients. If the SEC is correct, Nikolai Battoo and company have ripped off investors to the tune of $1.5 […]
BONY To Pay $114 Million To Defrauded Investors – Fraud Recovery Blog
by Brian Mahany Our firm concentrates in fraud recovery. Frequently the frauds we handle involve Ponzi schemes. By the time the fraud comes to light, there are very few assets to recover. Some victims rely on court appointed receivers. Sometimes that works but often the result is a recovery of just pennies on the dollar. […]
Hook ‘Em and Book ‘Em – Former Texas Longhorn Star Charged WIth Affinity Fraud
by Brian Mahany Three days ago I was in Bandera, Texas participating in my first “Cowboy Mardi Gras.” As a new Texas landowner and soon to be resident, it was fitting to begin spending time in my new hometown. (It was also 80 degrees while Milwaukee was a frigid 8!) Football is king in Texas […]
JPMorgan Ordered To Pay $18+ Million For Mismanaging Trust
by Brian Mahany Wm. Skelly, founder of Skelly Oil, created a trust back in 1955 to benefit his daughter and grandchild. Skelly died long ago but the trust continued and was left to JPMorgan Chase to manage. Instead of making money for the trust’s intended beneficiaries, an Oklahoma judge says the bank lined its own […]
Predatory Lending – Refinancing & Personal Guarantees
by Brian Mahany After the mortgage meltdown in late 2007 and 2008, many small community banks suddenly found their commercial loan portfolio was undercollateralized. The better banks gave borrowers plenty of notice that they would be requiring additional collateral – often in the form of personal guarantees and mortgages on the borrower’s residence. Some small […]
Seeking Information – Force Placed Insurance
by Brian Mahany Unless you are in the banking industry or have fallen behind in your mortgage payments, most people don’t understand the term “force placed insurance.” For those in the know, it is the financial industry’s dirty little secret. A condition of almost every mortgage loan is that the homeowner must keep insurance on […]
Massachusetts Claims BNY Mellon Guilty of Fraud
by Brian Mahany Leave it to William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I met Galvin in 1995, shortly after his election. At the time I was Maine’s revenue commissioner. Galvin has stayed in government service and is certainly not afraid to take on the Wall Street big dogs. In this case, Bank […]
Violence Vanquished? Fraud On The Rise!
by Brian Mahany I couldn’t help but smile when I read the full page headline on page C1 of the Weekend Edition of the Wall Street Journal – “Violence Vanquished.” The author of that piece, Steven Pinker, is actually correct; we don’t kill and maim our brother man nearly as much as we did in […]