Periodically, we review the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services enforcement action docket. There are literally tens of thousands of healthcare providers across the country. Most participate in the Medicare or Medicaid health programs. The government periodically audits a small percentage of these providers each year. When a significant problem is uncovered, the government can […]
LNR Partners – Storm Clouds Brewing for Special Servicers (CMBS Post)
Imagine that you are a borrower on a major commercial real estate project. Your project has plenty of equity but cash flow is tight. Despite the tough economy, you manage to hold on. As things get worse, the designated special servicer on your loan invites you to miss a payment so they can get involved […]
SEC Slams Ex LPL Broker for Elder Financial Abuse
A stockbroker who delivers medication to a terminal cancer patient in a snowstorm… sounds like a great guy, right? In most situations it would be wonderful. In this case, the man wearing the hero’s disguise was nothing more than a common thief and villain. Last week the SEC obtained a $1.8 million judgment against former […]
NASAA Takes Aim At REIT Sales
The North American Securities Administrators Association has once again taken aim at REIT sales practices. According to the Wall Street Journal, the group wants to push legislation that would limit the percentage of an individual ‘s net worth that could be invested in nontraded REITs. The REIT concentration limit proposal “would add a uniform concentration […]
Is 60% Lost Value “Good”? Behringer Harvard (Monogram Residential) REIT Loss Post
Regular visitors to this website know we watch nontraded REITs very closely. Although the industry attracts over a billion dollars per month in new money, nontraded REITs are not suitable for most ordinary investors. There are several reasons for our opinion including their lack of transparency and liquidity. Case in point? Monogram Residential Trust, formerly […]
Private Prisons – Next Wave of Whistleblower Cases?
Many states now house prisoners in privately run facilities. Last year, there were 27,920 federal prisoners in private prisons and an additional 16,500 immigration detainees held privately. These numbers don’t include the tens of thousands of state prisoners. All told, there are an estimated 130,000 inmates today under the control of private jailers. Those jails, […]
Have Special Servicers Lost Their Way? CMBS Post
If you are a commercial real estate borrower and your loan isn’t in trouble, chances are you haven’t heard of a special servicer. With many commercial loans in default, however, the special servicer business is booming. A master servicer typically services commercial mortgages. That entity typically collects rent and makes sure bills get paid. Most […]
Morgan Stanley Loses $4.5mm Stockbroker Fraud Arbitration
Morgan Stanley & Co. suffered a $4.5 million arbitration loss before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) after a customer complained that the brokerage firm had committed fraud. The customer, Banamex, claimed Morgan Stanley improperly pledged the assets of a wealthy family. Banamex acted as the family’s trustee. The family’s trust claimed the trustee never […]
Alliance & Nikolai Battoo – “Figment of Criminal Imagination”
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged yet another player in the massive Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Nikolai Battoo. Marketed as PIWM, Maven Assurance or Maven Life, the Ponzi scheme is estimated to have raked in over $150 million dollars. Already the principals, Nikolai Battoo and his chief marketer Tracy Sunderlage, have been charged […]
Buy America Act – Chinese Steel – Whistleblower Post
During the height of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt and Congress passed a number of measures designed to spur the national economy. Part of Washington’s “New Deal” package was the Buy American Act; a law that required the federal government to prefer American made goods in its purchases. Later, the Buy American law was supplemented […]