Bobby Hayes, a Nevada retiree and wealthy investor, has been awarded $1.4 million in damages in securities arbitration against Merrill Lynch. According to Hayes’ allegations, Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch sold him collateralized debt obligations which were worthless at the time he purchased them. The case was filed in…
Affinity fraud is a scam in which personal contacts are used by the perpetrator to defraud a specific group of people. While religious fraud is common, church congregations are not the only breeding grounds for affinity fraud. Investment attorneys urge the public to be aware that any tight-knit community can…
While investors are told time and time again to inspect monthly statements from the broker or firm handling their investments, many are still victims of fraud that could have been detected before losses become so substantial that the victim may never recover. Careful evaluation of monthly statements and transaction documents…
On January 18, 2012, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority — the entity which handles securities arbitration on behalf of investors who have been the victims of stock broker fraud — announced its decision to fine Citigroup Global Markets Inc. for failure to disclose conflicts of interest. The conflicts of interest…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued two investor alerts regarding the use of social media sites as a means for perpetuating investment fraud. Investors who have been the victims of fraud through social media are encouraged to seek the council of an investment attorney to find out about…
Stock fraud lawyers are seeking clients that have been the victim of stock broker fraud through the use of self-directed IRAs. Self-directed IRAs are held by a custodian or trustee and allow for investment in a broader set of assets than traditional IRAs. The custodial processes associated with self-directed IRAs…
Mutual funds are popular with investors because they consist of multiple stocks, meaning if one stock does poorly in the market, it doesn’t necessarily lower the entire mutual fund portfolio. Even so, mutual fund portfolios can be designed to be either very conservative or very risky. Mutual funds can include…
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) released its annual report last month on enforcement actions to fight securities fraud. The report compares the data on securities fraud enforcement actions from 2010 to that of 2009. According to the report, the number of actions pursued in 2010 rose 51 percent,…
One of the most prominent ways fraudsters are currently targeting investors is through promissory note scams. According to Pat Huddleston, former Security and Exchange Commission enforcer and author of the book “The Vigilant Investor,” promissory note scams are “exploding” — in no small part due to the nature of the…
A press release from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation on October 6 announced FINRA’s support of the First Lady and Dr. Jill Biden’s “Joining Forces” initiative. “Joining Forces is a comprehensive national initiative to mobilize all sectors of society to give our service members and their…