Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog

United Development Funding Claims It as Conducted an Internal Investigation; Awaiting Ongoing Civil and Criminal Investigations

June 12, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Real estate finance company United Development Funding (“UDF”) publicly speaks nearly three months after an FBI raided its headquarters in February 2016.

In a news release, UDF said a board-authorized probe into its inner workings by an outside law firm UDF hired found no evidence of fraud or misconduct on the part of the trust, its management, or its advisor. Silver Law Group has been monitoring the situation since March.

The news comes in light of heavy fire the real estate finance company has come under going back to 2015. In December 2015, Hayman Capital Management principal Kyle Bass, anonymously at the time, posted a report and letter enumerating UDF business red flags and alleging it was being run like a Ponzi scheme.

West Palm Beach-Based, RBC Broker Samuel K. Kolton Under Investigation for Overconcentrating Customers in Puerto Rico Bonds

June 11, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is investigating West Palm Beach, Florida-based RBC Capital Markets (“RBC”) broker Samuel K. Koltun (CRD# 1739664) for customer complaints alleging he unsuitably recommended and overconcentrated their portfolio in Puerto Rico bonds and failed to disclose the risks associated with such an investment.

Koltun has six misconduct disclosures on his Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) BrokerCheck report, of which three have been reported in the past eight months. The three most recent complaints all allege overconcentration in Puerto Rico bonds.

This isn’t Koltun’s first encounter with trouble, though, according to the report. FINRA suspended Koltun in 2004 for unsuitable recommendations he made to customers.

Woodbury Financial Services Broker Daniel J. Dunn Under Investigation

June 10, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is investigating Woodbury Financial Services (“Woodbury”) broker Daniel J. Dunn (CRD# 3105100) for customer complaints filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) against the broker.

According to Dunn’s FINRA BrokerCheck report, there are five customer complaints against him, four of which have settled for a total of $685,000. The complaints against Dunn allege securities law violations such recommending unsuitable investments and misrepresentations among other claims.

One of the complaints, which has since been settled, was Dunn’s recommendation to a customer to borrow money against the customer’s family home to invest in an investment that was unsuitable for the customer. According to the report, there are two complaints that allege those same facts, one settled in 2007 and the other settled almost a year later, but it is not clear whether or not the complaints arose out of the same situation.

VSR Financial Broker Mickey Long Under Investigation

June 8, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is investigating Texas-based broker M F “Mickey” Long II (“Long”) (CRD# 1778299) of VSR Financial. According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (“FINRA”) BrokerCheck records, Long has been subject to nine customer complaints.

One of the nine customer complaints is currently pending and alleges unsuitable investment recommendations, misrepresentations, and breach of fiduciary duties among others. The claims appear to relate to oil and gas private placements.

Oil and gas securities were at their peak when the commodity was soaring at unprecedented levels in 2008. The prices rallied to a high of just over $110 per unit in 2011, but the commodity was risky. Another drop occurred in late 2014 and the commodity has currently been valued around $50 per barrel but going as low as the high 20s.

VSR Financial Services Broker Dennis Van Patter Under Investigation for Oil and Gas Securities Recommendations

June 7, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is investigating VSR Financial Services (“VSR”) broker Dennis Van Patter (“Patter”) (CRD# 1364583) for allegations that he unsuitably recommended oil and gas investments to his customers.

According to Patter’s Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) BrokerCheck report, Patter has nine misconduct disclosures on his record. Five of the complaints have settled, and one is a FINRA sanction that suspended Patter for 45 days.

According to the report, FINRA sanctioned Patter after the broker recommended that a retired customer invest in alternative investments unsuitable in light of the customer’s investment objectives and risk tolerance and heavily concentrated the customer’s assets in said investments. Overall, Patter invested $1.6 million of the customer’s money in various alternative investments, all of which were described as highly speculative or very risky, including notoriously volatile oil and gas drilling partnerships, non-traded real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and private placements.

Former South Florida-Based RBC Broker Lisa J. Lowi Under Investigation for Litany of Energy-Related Customer Complaints

June 6, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is investigating former South Florida-based RBC Capital Markets (“RBC”) broker Lisa J. Lowi (CRD# 1347790) for amassing 23 customer complaints since early 2015, many of which deal with energy-related investments.

According to Lowi’s Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) BrokerCheck report, 23 customer complaints have been reported against Lowi since February 2015, of which 14 are related to investments in the energy sector. The remaining complaints do not indicate the particular investment, so more complaints could potentially concern energy sector investments.

The complaints allege millions of dollars in investor losses and damages, and five have already settled. The remaining complaints are pending, and one has been withdrawn according to FINRA records.

SEC Files Complaint Against Registered Brokers After Tricking Investors Into Buying Coconut Creek, Florida-Based ForceField Energy, Inc.

June 5, 2016 | Silver Law Group

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) filed charges against 10 individuals, five of which were registered brokers, involved in schemes to trick investors into buying shares of ForceField Energy Inc.

According to the complaint, the schemes involved ForceField’s then-chairman, Richard St. Julien, steering these registered brokers to sell the Coconut Creek, Florida-based company by bribing them with money and other benefits. All of these “benefits” were covertly given to the registered representatives, with the parties going so far as communicating with prepaid disposable “burner” phones and encrypted, content-expiring text messages.

The registered representatives included Richard L. Brown, Gerald J. Cocuzzo (CRD# 4047511) of Newbridge Securities Corporation, Naveed A. (Nick) Khan (CRD# 4615944) of Meyers Associates, Maroof Miyana (CRD# 4513966) of Legend Securities, and Pranav V. Patel (CRD# 130645) of Dawson James.

Frederick Monroe, 16-year Financial Advisor, Permanently Barred by FINRA

May 20, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Frederick Monroe, 16-year Financial Advisor, Permanently Barred by FINRA on silverlaw.com

Fraud, misappropriation of funds, and criminal charges—this New York broker is in serious trouble.

The subject of numerous customer disputes, Frederick Monroe has been barred from associating with acting as a broker or otherwise associating with firms that sell securities to the public.

Frederick Monroe began his career in the securities industry in 1994 when he was employed by Robert W. Baird & Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was also employed by Voya Financial Advisors in Albany, New York, from February 2006 to June 2015. Before that, he was employed by Northwestern Mutual Investment Services in Latham, New York, from July 1994 to February 2006.

Martin Waldman Subject of a Securities Arbitration Claim

May 19, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Martin Waldman Subject of a Securities Arbitration Claim on silverlaw.com

This is the fourth complaint filed against the Raymond James broker Martin “Skip” Waldman of Boca Raton, Florida.

Boca Raton broker Martin Waldman now faces yet another client complaint. In his 13 years in the securities industry, Waldman has several reported disclosure events on his professional track record.

Waldman has been registered with and employed by the Boca Raton, Florida, office of Raymond James & Associates, Inc. since May of 2009. Prior to that, Waldman was registered with Vision Investment Services, Inc. and Northern Trust Securities, Inc., both located in Boca Raton.

Paul Posillico, Aegis Financial Corp., Investigation

May 18, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Manager Touching The Word UNAUTHORIZED Onscreen on silverlaw.com

Paul Posillico, a New York stock broker, is no longer licensed.

After ten years in the securities industry, Paul Posillico has been permanently barred from acting as a broker or otherwise associating with firms that sell securities to the public. Although his barring occurred in June of 2015, Posillico was in hot water with FINRA for years before, including five complaints against him and two regulatory disputes.

His employment history includes most recently working as a broker for Aegis Capital Corporation in Melville, New York, from February 2013 to October 2014. He was also employed at Obsidian Financial Group from April 2008 to April 2013, a firm that was expelled by FINRA in October 2013.