Investor Lawyers Blog
Securities fraud attorneys are currently investigating claims on behalf of the customers of James E. Neilsen. These investigations are concerning Neilsen’s conduct and the sale of investment agreements and promissory notes while he was registered with Tradition Asiel Securities, Longship Alternative Asset Management, and Sound Securities.
On January 9, 2014, Neilsen was put under an Order to Cease and Desist, Order to Make Restitution, Notice of Intent to Fine and Notice of Rights to Hearing by the Banking Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Banking. The order was amended on February 18. According to the allegations laid out in the order, to finance his partners’ business expenses, Neilsen individually and/or on behalf of his partners sold approximately $10 million in promissory notes and investment agreements that weren’t registered and weren’t exempt from being registered with the state. The conduct allegedly occurred between November 2005 and around September 2011. The order also states that though some investors have been partially repaid by Neilsen, $7 million remains outstanding.
Promissory notes are a type of debt sometimes used by companies in order to raise money. Through the note, the company promises to return the investor’s principal and pay fixed interest amounts. They have set terms and repayment periods that should be stated specifically in the note. According to stock fraud lawyers, some promissory notes are fraudulent from the beginning and exist only to convince investors they are entering into a contractual arrangement when, in reality, they are not. Others are real securities that, despite the fact that they should be registered with regulatory bodies, bypass registration and are sold as unregistered securities.