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 […]
FINRA Issues Warning On Nontraded REITs – Stockbroker Fraud Post
We have written several times about the dangers of nontraded or thinly traded REITs. They are a popular way of investing in real estate but they can be difficult to sell or liquidate if an investor suddenly needs cash. There are other potential pitfalls as well. This week the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority – FINRA […]
Bank of America: "There is No HAMP, There Is No Help, And There Is No Hope"
by Brian Mahany We have listened to many recorded conversations between bank workout specialists and borrowers. Until the mortgage meltdown and subsequent collapse of the lending industry, homeowners never thought to record their conversations with bankers. There was little need. Now with some of the major banks like Bank of America, Chase and Wells seemingly […]
Bloomberg Column Calls For End FINRA Arbitration Panels
by Brian Mahany William Cohan, a journalist and author of a popular column on Bloomberg View, calls for the end of FINRA arbitration panels. For those readers not familiar with FINRA, the acronym stands for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Virtually anyone who has opened a brokerage account has signed an agreement saying that all […]
TD Bank Accused Of Fraud (Again)
by Brian Mahany Big banks have not been getting good press these days and this post is no exception. Earlier this year, TD Bank suffered a startling setback when it was found to have “aided and abetted” fraud. A civil jury then sanctioned the bank with a $67 million dollar judgment. Do you think they […]
Postscript on Goldman Sachs Story
by Brian Mahany When Greg Smith quit Goldman Sachs, he did it in style. He wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Times. That piece would soon go viral and has been read millions of times. Smith’s piece has special meaning to us. It seems that fraud is running rampant these days. We get calls […]
REITs Hit The Skids
[Post Updated 2019] It’s no coincidence that the three top headlines in InvestmentNews Daily today all addressed the problems facing REITs. As lawyers that assist investors who were defrauded or misled by stockbrokers and investment advisors, we have heard many sad stories recently… elderly investors who were told to invest in thinly traded REITs, people […]
Win Some, Lose Some
by Brian Mahany We follow large fraud cases against auditing firms. Look no further than this blog for plenty of horror stories about auditors turning a blind eye to corruption and fraud. Unfortunately, the system is broken. How can an auditor truly be independent when he or she is dependent on the client to get […]
Stockbroker Arrested After Elder Fraud, Stealing From Church
by Brian Mahany There are bad stockbrokers who always seem to lose money and then there are BAD stockbrokers – those that are nothing more than common thieves. According to an article in InvestmentNews, one of those really bad brokers was charged with four counts of aggravated theft after cops say he stole money from […]
Adopting Your Girlfriend To Avoid Wrongful Death Claim? Epic Fail
by Brian Mahany Who says creativity and ingenuity are dead? Don’t tell John Goodman of Palm Beach, Florida. In what has to be one of the most bizarre and brazen attempts to avoid creditors, Goodman adopted his 42 year old girlfriend making her his daughter. Why? Ah, that’s the best part of the story. While […]