The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has taken emergency action to stop an alleged $6 million Ponzi scheme that took money from at least 55 people, many of whom are seniors.
The SEC obtained a temporary asset freeze and restraining order against Neil Burkholz of Boca Raton, Florida, and Frank Bianco, of Pembroke Pines, Florida and their companies Palm Financial Management LLC and Shore Management Systems LLC. Continue reading
We’ve all heard at least one story about an investor who put money into something that was supposed to be the “next best thing,” maybe even with a “guaranteed return.” Unfortunately, that “next big thing” turned out to be fraudulent. As we at Silver Law Group have reported on our many blogs, senior investors have been particular targets of such blatant fraudulence. In some cases, these investors are bankrupted, and their years of lost savings and careful investments have left them dependent on Social Security. Continue reading
For years, financial advisers have walked a fine line when receiving financial inheritances from their clients. Unfortunately, the line between an adviser’s professional obligations and their personal interests is very easily blurred—a reality that leads to complicated fraud and ethics violations.
In this blog post, we’ll look into the legal issues associated with financial inheritances from clients by financial advisers, potential solutions to the problem, and how a group of bipartisan lawmakers are taking action and calling to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for reform. Continue reading
Has a broker or financial advisor asked to be a beneficiary in your will? Financial advisors should not be participating in a client’s estate.
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, (D-Nev.), Mike Rounds, (R.-S.D.), Tina Smith, (D-Minn.) and Chris Van Hollen, (D-Md.) recently sent a formal letter to FINRA requesting that the agency draft and enact new regulations for both advisors and firms prohibiting them from receiving these types of inheritances, and requiring any inheritances to be forfeited. It also requests that the representatives and/or firms pay large fines, and restrict individuals from serving as financial advisors and representatives in the future. Current regulations allow brokers and financial representatives to accept inheritances from their clients. However, many brokerage firms prohibit the practice. Continue reading
Silver Law Group is investigating Boca Raton, Florida-based Newbridge Securities Corporation broker David Fagenson (CRD# 1652012) after FINRA suspended him for eight (8) months for alleged misconduct in elder customer brokerage accounts.
According to Fagenson’s FINRA BrokerCheck report, FINRA suspended the Florida-based broker in November 2018. FINRA suspended Fagenson after he entered into an Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (AWC) that found Fagenson engaged in excessive and unsuitable trading in three (3) senior customer brokerage accounts while employed by UBS Financial Services Inc. Continue reading
When you’re considering working with a financial professional, how do you pick the right person? Do you choose someone with an impressive-sounding title/designation that makes it seem like they have expertise helping people just like you, such as “senior specialist” if you’re a senior citizen?
While a designation like that might inspire confidence, before you work with anyone, you may be surprised to learn what really goes into getting these designations. It might not mean what you think it means. Continue reading
Robert Lee Basile (CRD#: 2392772, aka “Bob Basile”) is a former registered broker and investment advisor who was last employed with PARK AVENUE SECURITIES LLC (CRD#:46173) of Corona, CA. His previous employers include Waddell & Reed (CRD#:866) of Riverside, CA, National Planning Corporation (CRD#:29604) of Chino, CA, and Edward Jones (CRD#:250) of St. Louis, MO. He began in the industry in 2009.
Basile has only one disclosure, filed on 11/16/2018. In it, he was sanctioned and indefinitely barred by FINRA. Without admitting or denying the findings, Basile consented to the sanctions and signed an Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) letter. Continue reading
Chris Raymond Kubiak (CRD#: 1527367) is a previously registered broker whose last employer was Calton & Associates, Inc. (CRD#:20999) of Brookfield, WI. His previous employers include American Global Wealth Management, Inc. (CRD#:7388) of McDonough, GA, Freedom Investors Corp. (CRD#:23714) of Brookfield, and Dreher & Associates, Inc. (CRD#:8665) of Oakbrook Terrace, IL. He has been in the industry since 1986.
On 9/25/2018, Kubiak was arrested and charged with “felony theft by fraud” (Theft 943.20(1)(b)). The charges are currently pending, and he has not yet entered a plea. Continue reading
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 have generated more than $3.3 million of illegal profits. The new charges also allege that the parties generated more than $560,000 in kickbacks for Romandetti.
The SEC’S statement alleges that Romandetti and the other parties lied to more than 100 victims in a scheme that inflated First Choice’s stock price from less than $1 per share to $3.40 per share. From September 2013 until June 2016, the parties used several accounts to disguise their trading, and engaged in fraudulent trading practices. Elite Stock Research, a boiler room run by one of the defendants, Anthony Vassallo, was hired to promote First Choice to investors.
The SEC originally charged Elite Stock Research with bilking victims out of more than $10 million through fraudulent sales tactics and lies about penny stocks. Seven of the 13 individuals have pleaded guilty to criminal charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The litigation against the 13 individuals is still continuing.
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 more than $3 million.
“Mr. Lindell was a trusted financial professional in Maine,” said Judith Shaw, the Maine securities administrator. “But more than that, he was like family to these women. He groomed them for years in order to perpetrate these crimes, preying on their trusting nature and vulnerabilities.” Continue reading
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