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Category Archives: General

SEC Charges Lawyer with Aiding and Abetting Client’s Fraud

By Rabin Kammerer Johnson |

The SEC charged the former financial advisor Kenneth Ira Starr, Jonathan Star Bristol, with aiding and abetting Starr’s multi-million dollar fraud by allowing Starr to use his attorney trust accounts as conduits for money Starr stole from his clients. The SEC claims that over $25 million of Starr’s clients’ money came through Bristol’s trust… Read More »

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Universal Fiduciary-Duty Standard Could Be Costly

By Rabin Kammerer Johnson |

In an effort to determine the utility of creating a universal fiduciary-duty standard in the retail investment advice industry, a recent study by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association shows that a potential universal standard could be costly to investors without adjustments being made for special broker-dealer practices. Broker-dealers, who currently adhere to… Read More »

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International Ponzi Schemer Now Being Investigated in Orlando

By Rabin Kammerer Johnson |

David Smith, accused of perpetrating a $200 million Ponzi scheme, could now face up to 23 criminal counts in Orlando as a result of his scheme. Smith, a Jamaican banker, is also facing criminal charges in the Turks & Caicos. Smith convinced investors to put their money into his various companies, including Olint Corp.,… Read More »

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Citigroup Charged with Misleading Investors About Subprime Mortgages

By Rabin Kammerer Johnson |

The SEC has charged Citigroup Inc. with misleading investors about the company’s exposure in subprime mortgages. Citigroup repeatedly made misleading statements in conference calls relating to earnings and public filings. Citigroup represented that subprime exposure in its investment banking unit was $13 billion or less, when in fact it was more than $50 billion…. Read More »

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SEC Charges Prominent Miami Beach Businessman in $900 Million Ponzi Scheme

By Rabin Kammerer Johnson |

On April 21, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, against a prominent Miami Beach-based businessman, Nevin K. Shapiro, alleging that he conducted a $900 million offering fraud and Ponzi scheme targeting more than 60 investors nationwide. The SEC claims that… Read More »

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South Florida Insurance Agent Charged With Scamming Seniors in alleged STOLI Scheme

By Rabin Kammerer Johnson |

On April 22, 2010, Florida authorities arrested insurance agent Steven M. Brasner, who worked with Infinity Financial Group LLC in Davie, Fla., on charges that he falsified information on elderly clients’ life insurance applications to sell the applications on the secondary market. Axa Equitable Life Insurance Co. initially notified Florida’s state regulators of the… Read More »

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Court Rules That Schwab Yield-Plus Fund Failed to Secure Shareholder Consent

By Rabin Kammerer Johnson |

A federal court has held that Schwab’s mutual fund managers contradicted its policy of limiting money invested in a particular industry to 25 percent. This required shareholder consent under federal securities laws. The case is now set to go to trial. In the lawsuit, the investors’ nationwide damages approximate over $80 million. Schwab also… Read More »

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SEC Sues Goldman Sachs for Investor Fraud

By Rabin Kammerer Johnson |

The SEC has charged Goldman Sachs & Co. (“Goldman”) and a Vice President, for misleading investors by misstating and omitting material facts about a derivative product tied to sub-prime mortgages. The SEC complaint alleges that Goldman structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (“CDO”) tied to sub-prime residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”). Goldman failed… Read More »

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Tom Petters gets 50 Year Sentence for $3.6 Billion Ponzi Scheme

By Rabin Kammerer Johnson |

The sentence is substantially lower than the 335 years sought by prosecutors. When Mr. Petters’ massive empire unraveled, the losses were $3.6 billion. Investors include pastors, missionaries, retirees and nursing home residents, among others. Several months ago, a jury convicted the prior owner of Polaroid on 20 counts of mail and wire fraud, money… Read More »

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Morgan Keegan and Two Employees Charged With Securities Fraud for Overstating Value of Mortgage-Backed Securities

By Rabin Kammerer Johnson |

The SEC has charged Morgan Keegan with failure to use proper procedures to the securities in five managed funds and for its failure to correctly calculate the “net asset values” (NAVs) for the funds. Morgan Keegan sold shares in the funds to the public, including Florida investors, based on the inaccurate prices. The SEC… Read More »

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