Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog

Atria Wealth Solutions, Inc. is a wealth management holding company with subsidiaries that serve independent finanicial advisors and financial institutions. The company has recently agreed to acquire NEXT Financial Group Inc., an independent broker-dealer based in Houston. NEXT Financial Group serves more than 500 independent advisors with approximately $13 billion…

The CFTC, along with the Utah Department of Commerce, Division of Securities, through its Attorney General, jointly filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, Central Division. They filed against Gaylen Dean Rust and his business Rust Rare Coin (RRC). The complaint charges…

The SEC obtained a preliminary injunction against two individuals and their companies on October 26, 2018. The fraudulent actions of these individuals resulted in more than $165 million of illegal sales and stock in at least 50 microcap companies. According to the SEC, U.K. citizen Roger Knox and his Swiss-based…

The SEC has brought additional charges against a Long-Island, New York-based boiler room that was sued for defrauding elderly and unsophisticated investors. The latest charges allege that Christian Romandetti, CEO of First Choice Healthcare Solutions Inc., the boiler room, and four others have committed fraud within the company’s shares and…

A securities agent and former state legislator, Robert Kenneth Lindell, is found guilty on 15 counts of securities fraud, intentional evasion of income tax, and failure to pay Maine income tax, in what authorities call one of Maine’s worst cases of elder financial abuse. He defrauded two widows out of…

On October 25, 2018, the SEC obtained a court order to halt the alleged fraudulent actions of a registered stock broker and his companies. The complaint by the SEC states that Sean Kelly used his companies, Lion’s Share Financial of East Cobb, Inc., Lion’s Share and Associates, Inc., and Lion…

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has stated that in 2019, it plans to keep pressure on state officials who consider following Nevada in imposing a higher standard of care on broker-dealers. Leaders of the organization said that after praising a federal proposal that has been in the making…

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors of New York State Inc. (“NAIFA”) filed a lawsuit on November 16 in the New York Supreme Court alleging New York regulation requiring insurance agents and brokers to act in the best interest of their clients when selling life insurance and annuity…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Emil Botvinnik of taking $3.7 million in a fraudulent scheme involving excessive, high-frequency trading. On November 7, 2018, he asked a New York federal judge to toss the suit because he claimed its allegations do not meet the pleading standard for fraud.…

Fabio Bretas de Freitas of Miami, Florida, was arrested on fraud and identity theft charges for allegedly misappropriating more than $5.5 million. He also allegedly attempted to deceive federal regulators and he impersonated a victim-investor. The 53-year-old was taken into custody on December 6 and was then scheduled to appear…