Category Archives: Fraud
Five Florida Residents Charged With Conducting $27.5 Million Investment Fraud
Florida residents, James Howard, III and Louis Gallo, III both from Parkland; Patricia Saa from Naples; Michael Casey, an attorney from Oakland Park; and Rita Balbirer from Pompano Beach (collectively “Defendants”) have been charged by federal prosecutors with a total of 22 criminal counts, including conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. Each fraud count carries… Read More »
Florida Brokers Charged In Illegal Markup Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged two former Florida brokers, Fabrizio Neves and Jose Luna, who were employed by now-defunct FINRA member LatAm Investments, LLC (“LatAm”), with overcharging customers approximately $36 million. In addition, the SEC charged LatAm’s former president, Angelica Aguilera, with failing to adequately supervise the pair, allowing them to carry… Read More »
Lake Worth Financial Planner Accused of Defrauding Investors
Michael Hardman of Lake Worth, Florida was arrested last week for allegedly defrauding Palm Beach County investors out of more than $1 million. According to police, Hardman is facing one count of organizing a scheme to defraud and multiple counts of grand theft. Police records reflect that Hardman used his position as a tax… Read More »
Bi-Partisan Bill Aims to Stop Scammers Who Target Veterans
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”), Palm Beach County, Florida is home to more than 112,000 veterans – many of which are potential victims of scammers who prey on elderly and disable veterans. U.S. Representatives Tom Rooney (R-FL), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), and Ron Barber (D-AZ) aim to discourage… Read More »
Bank of America Settles With Court-Appointed Trustee for Fraudster Nevin Shapiro’s Former Company
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurel Isicoff has approved a $5.9 million settlement between the court-appointed trustee for Capitol Investments USA, Inc. (“Capitol”), the company formerly run by jailed Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro, and Bank of America Corp. Shapiro and Capitol maintained bank accounts at Bank of America. Bank of America agreed to pay $5.9 million… Read More »
Alleged Fraudster Took the Money and Ran
Georgia resident, Aubrey Lee Price, formerly of Manatee County, Florida, is apparently on the run after being accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) of orchestrating a $40 million investment fraud. According to the SEC, Price misappropriated or lost nearly $40 million from approximately 115 investors in Georgia and Florida. The SEC has… Read More »
Two Individuals Sentenced for Roles in Miami-Area Medicare Fraud
The Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services announced that two Miami-area residents, James Edwards and Nelson Fernandez, were recently sentenced for their roles in a $200 million Medicare fraud scheme. Edwards and Fernandez worked as patient-recruiters for American Therapeutic Corporation (“ATC”), Medlink Professional Management Group, Inc., its… Read More »
GAO Report Finds Medicaid Audit Program Costs More Than it Recovers
An investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, revealed that the Medicaid audit program created in 2006 has cost taxpayers more than $100 million to operate since 2008, but only found $20 million in overpayments during that period. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) is… Read More »
Fraudster Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison
Michigan resident, Alan James Watson (“Watson”), was sentenced to 12 years in prison in connection with a scheme to defraud more than 900 investors out of $40 million through his investment club, Cash Flow Financial LLC (“CFF”). As a part of his sentence, he was ordered to forfeit more than $36 million in ill-gotten… Read More »
Former NAPFA Chairman Indicted For Fraud and Money Laundering
Mark Spangler (“Spangler”), the former chairman of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (“NAPFA”) has been indicted by a federal grand jury for investment advisor fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. The indictment alleges that Spangler stole $47.7 million of his clients’ money and invested it in two technology companies the he or… Read More »