Promoters at investor conferences sell the sizzle, not the steak. Investors who make their investment decision based on what they learn there are at serious risk of falling victim to a scam.
Oil and gas frauds will never fade. They’ve proven too good a vehicle for separating people from their life savings.
Scam artists love to use promissory notes in these uncertain economic times because they seem more safe than a hedge fund investment. It’s all the same to the scam artist; there is no legitimate enterprise behind his sales pitch. So, he aims to sell you what he thinks you are most interested in buying.
Scamsters now realize that the universe of possible victims is as big as the globe.
May found the climate too hot once federal investigators began looking into his operation. He was on the run for three months before the U.S. Marshal’s service caught up to him in San Francisco, where he was living under an assumed name.
First, your friendly neighborhood stockbroker, the one who everyone trusts because he is such a nice guy, is not necessarily equal to the trust. Unless you’ve done in-depth due diligence on the broker, you know absolutely nothing worth knowing about him.
Instead of reserving investor funds to pay future Policy premiums, Defendants commingled the funds and used them to pay Defendants’ business and personal expenses and to support lavish lifestyles, including payments for jewelry, casinos and other travel and entertainment. The complaint alleges that Defendants enriched themselves with approximately $2.3 million of investor funds.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has charged Stephen X. Kim and Spyglass Management, L.P. (“Spyglass”) with defrauding Houston-area investors out of more than $4 million.
SEC Finds Two Alleged Oil and Gas Frauds
We’ve seen quite a few oil and gas frauds lately. Be aware that they are on the rise.