Pennsylvania Man Charged With Defrauding Investors Out Of $1.2M
Bernard M. Parker of Indiana, Pennsylvania is charged with defrauding twenty-two investors out of $1.2 million and using the cash to pay his mortgage, debit card purchases, and other personal expenses. Parker, who operated Parker Financial Services from his home, was indicted under seal on counts of securities and mail fraud. The case was then […]
RCAP Shutting Down Wholesaling REIT Division After Fraud Charges, Drop In Sales
RCS Capital Corp. (“RCAP”) announced this week that it is closing its wholesaling brokerage division following a decline in sales of nontraded real estate investment trusts and allegations of fraud. The shutdown will result in the layoff of roughly 150 employees. Another 50, elsewhere in the company, will also lose their jobs. The company was […]
Vermont Man Charged By SEC For Operating Ponzi Scheme
Homero Joshua Garza of Brattleboro, Vermont faces federal charges alleging that he operated a Ponzi scheme that bilked thousands of investors. The SEC charged Garza and his two Bitcoin-mining companies, GAW Miners LLC and ZenMiner LLC, with running the scheme. The companies sold $20 million worth of what appeared to be shares in Hashlets, digital […]
Kansas Man Sentenced In Securities Fraud Case
Paul C. Carageannis of Wichita, Kansas was sentenced to 60 months of probation and ordered to pay the balance of over $165,000 in misused funds to his victims. Carageannis pleaded no contest on June 15th to one count of felony securities fraud under the Kansas Uniform Securities Act. Carageannies bilked at minimum eleven Kansas investors out […]
FBI Raids PhoenixMart HQ In Securities Fraud Investigation
The FBI raided the PhoenixMart headquarters last week in northeast Phoenix. Agents swarmed the building at 7:00 AM on Thursday to investigate possible securities and investor fraud at the company. Agents were not allowed to speak on the raid. However, a spokesperson for the FBI said that the bureau could confirm the raid was ongoing […]
New York Financial Adviser Sentences In Massive Ponzi Scheme
Scott Valente, a 58-year-old stock broker from upstate New York, was sentenced in federal court today to twenty years imprisonment for defrauding over a hundred investors out of over $10 million. He was also ordered to pay $8.2 million in restitution. He had originally spent that money on vacation homes, jewelry for his wife, and […]
History Of Investors Capital Corporation’s Malfeasance
Investors Capital Corporation, a dually-registered independent Broker/Dealer and Investment Advisory firm, has a long history of malfeasance. In the summer of 2014, Patricia S. Miller, a former financial adviser with ICC, was arrested for orchestrating a massive Ponzi scheme that cost her clients millions in savings. Through her scheme, she obtained $4.1 million from over […]
FINRA Issues Investor Alert On IRS Impersonation Scam
FINRA issued a new investor alert, called Tools of the Fraud Trade: Phones and Emotions, warning investors not to send money or provide personal information to a massive IRS impersonation scam timed to coincide with the recent deadline for anyone who filed a federal tax extension this past April. More than 700,000 people have reported getting […]
California Man Indicted For Defrauding Alabama Investor
Daniel Scott Register of Valencia, California was indicted in Calhoun County, Alabama on charges of defrauding an Alabama investor. Register was arrested on October 6 by the Orange County, California Sheriff’s Department. He was then transferred on October 9 to a correctional facility in Los Angeles, and a hold was placed on him for pending […]
Texas Man Convicted Of Securities Fraud
A federal jury on Monday convicted a Rockwall, Texas man of securities fraud arising from an investment scheme he ran, according to U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. Mark Lee Cleaton was found guilty on four counts of wire fraud and is facing a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison […]