Burnham Securities, Tribal Bonds, Joe Biden’s Son, and Some Other Star-Studded Connections

Burnham Securities, Inc. (CRD# 22549), the alleged placing agent for a tribal bond scheme as indicated in a recently-filed SEC complaint, has got some interesting and noteworthy connections to the complaint despite recently closing down shop.

Burnham Securities has recently come under our firm’s gaze due to not-so-great allegations of its connection to a tribal bond scheme orchestrated by notorious father-son investment scam duo Jason W. Galanis and John P. Galanis.  Though Burnham has not been specifically named, several of its principals and/or owners have been, and the SEC alleged the firm was the placement agent for the tribal bond offerings.

The Galanises employed a few associates in their scam of offering tribal bonds to unwitting investors.  The Galanises and their associates raised the money through an elaborate scheme and then kept the money raised.

Among the associates used by the Galanises were Devon D. Archer and Hugh Dunkerley.

Dunkerley was a managing director of Burnham while the fraud was occurring, according to his LinkedIn page.  Simultaneously, he server as a non-executive director of COR Securities, the parent company of COR Clearing LLC.  According to the SEC complaint, Dunkerley served on many of the sham companies created to further the scam.

According to the SEC complaint, Archer was either a director, officer and indirect owner of and/or investor in multiple entities affiliated with Burnham, including Burnham Financial Group, the holding company and owner of Burnham and BAM Holdings, LLC, the holding company for investment management companies operating under the Burnham name, including Burnham Asset Management Corporation (“BAMC”).  His ownership in BAMC is confirmed in some of the company’s filings.

Archer additionally is a founding member and owner of Rosemont Capital Management.  Rosemont was started by Archer, Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and the heir to the Heinz ketchup empire, Christopher Heinz.  Archer’s connections to Biden span further, as they were both appointed as directors to Ukranian oil and gas company Burisma Holdings.

Archer’s political ties do not end with Biden.  He was an adviser to John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004.

As noted earlier, Burnham shut down and is no longer licenses, but its closing is at a peculiar time.  The firm was closed the day before the SEC complaint was filed.  Additionally, its CEO, founder, and manager of its trusts and funds, Jon M. Burnham (CRD# 36159) stepped down from all of his prominent positions with Burnham a week after the SEC complaint was filed.

The funds and trusts were then rebranded as RMB Funds with RMB Capital now managing them.  RMB Capital promptly issued a proxy with a Q&A stating why Burnham was no longer the leader: because of his ties to Burnham and the ongoing investigation (precise wording can be found on page 4).

The ties between Burnham Securities Inc., the Galanis tribal bond scheme and the SEC complaint are peculiar.  Burnham may bear some liability for selling these tribal bond investments.

If you have purchased these tribal bonds through Burnham Securities, Hughes Capital Management, LLC, or Atlantic Asset Management LLC, you may be eligible to recover some or all of your lost investment.

Silver Law Group represents the interests of investors who have been the victims of investment fraud.  If you have questions about your legal rights, please contact Scott Silver of the Silver Law Group for a free consultation at ssilver@silverlaw.com or toll free at (800) 975-4345.