People who bought shares of East Delta Resources Corp. in 2004 and 2005 were happy. As the price of one share of East Delta rose from 25 cents per share to more than one dollar per share, they may have wondered just how many times their money would double. The trading volume data showed [...]
Registered investment advisers (RIAs) are different from stockbrokers; at least they are supposed to be. RIAs owe you a fiduciary duty, which means that they are supposed to put your interests first and disclose any possible conflicts of interest. But many investment advisers do not live up to that duty. The U.S. Securities and [...]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Summit Advisory Partners and its managing partner, Robert Feeback with directing an illegal pump and dump scheme. According to the SEC, the scheme allowed three stock promoters, Ryan Reynolds, Jason Wynn and Carlton Fleming, to make millions by purchasing shares cheap, hyping the companies with false press releases, and then selling [...]
What do stockbrokers do when a regulator kicks them out of the securities industry? Oftentimes, they keep right on selling. The SEC has charged Bernard Daniel Braver with working for an unregistered investment company, Rabinovich & Associates, LP, operated by Alex Rabinovich, who the NASD tossed out of the industry years ago. The firm operated out [...]
The island of Majorca is off the Mediteranean Coast of Spain. For many years it has been a favorite vacation spot for Brittons seeking sunshine and retirement. The UK’s Serious Fraud office has launched an investigation into a possible 20 million pound fraud that targeted British retirees living on the island. Specifically, the SFO believes [...]
The United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) has obtained convictions against five people who defrauded about 1.93 million pounds from 56 investors. Operating under the name Prudential Commercial Investments, the scam targeted retired British ex-pats all over the globe — from the Czech Republic to Malaysia, from Brazil to Pakistan. The scamsters told their victims that [...]
When I was in high school, I took a class called “On Death and Dying,” in which we studied Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s book of the same name. Dr. Ross identified five distinct stages through which people pass after learning that their death is imminent. The first, and most stubborn, of those stages is Denial.Through 20 years of representing investors [...]
Gregg Thomas Rennie was a stockbroker in Quincy, Massachusetts. According to prosecutors, he used that status to defraud his brokerage customers out of more than $3 million, by promising them a return of 12 percent per year through investment in fictitious “federal housing certificates.” According to prosecutors, Rennie targeted elderly investors, convincing them to [...]
We first blogged about Arthur Nadel’s hedge fund scam in January 2009, after Nadel followed the oft-followed course of financial scamsters who run when exposure is imminent. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has now filed an enforcement action against two Florida-based investment advisers who worked with Nadel. The SEC charged Neil V. Moody and his son, Christopher D. Moody, [...]
How Do You Know Those Financial Statements Have Been Audited?
Have you ever reviewed a financial statement? Did it matter to you whether it was audited? Most investors would rather see audited statements so that they can be sure a qualified accountant has tested the representations in the statements. Who wouldn’t want to see audited statements?