Frankowski Firm Investigating UDF REITs

The Frankowski Firm is continuing its investigation into United Development Funding III and IV (UDF) on behalf of investors in the company's real estate investment trusts (REITs). The FBI recently raided the company's offices in Texas, and immediately afterward UDF IV's price dropped to $3.20 per share, more than 81% lower than its December 2015 price of $17.20. Investors have lost about $1 billion in UDF investments and shareholder class action lawsuits have been filed. The investment fraud attorneys at The Frankowski Firm believe that they can help investors recover their losses, including investors who invested in UDF products prior to June 2014. Richard Frankowski, owner of The Frankowski Firm said, "Investment advisers, brokers and their firms have a legal duty to understand and communicate to investors all the material facts about an investment, including the risks, before the investment is made. In other words, they have a duty not to misrepresent or fail to disclose any important facts before [...]

Ex-MetLife, Pruco Broker Accused Of Deceptive Variable Annuity Sales Practices

FINRA has accused a former MetLife Securities Inc. and Pruco Securities Inc. broker, Winston Wade Turner, of harmful and deceptive variable annuity sales practices. According to FINRA's complaint, Turner allegedly "engaged in a course of deception and other misconduct in connection with sales and exchanges of variable annuities involving numerous customers." Turner also allegedly induced some clients to exchange their variable annuities and other investments, whereby they surrendered existing contracts to fund purchases of new variable annuities, sometimes incurring surrender charges for the investor and generating additional commissions for Turner. He concealed the unsuitability of these transactions by falsifying documents and misrepresenting the way some income features on the annuity contracts worked, according to the complaint. More specifically, Turner allegedly hid the nature of the variable annuity transactions by circumventing the “additional supervisory scrutiny and documentation” required for these exchanges, the complaint says. In some cases, Turner hid his actions by recommending clients deposit proceeds from the surrender of the variable [...]

Former Oxford City Football Club Director Pleads Guilty To Fraud

Thomas A. Guerriero of Hillsboro Beach, Florida pleaded guilty to running a $6.6 million telemarketing and investment fraud conspiracy. Guerriero was formerly the director of the Oxford City Football Club, a minor league soccer team based in the university town northwest of London, England. He resigned just before he was indicted on federal charges in December. Guerriero pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud in federal court in Miami. The maximum penalty for the offense is twenty years in federal prison. He has agreed to pay $6.6 million in restitution and forfeit homes he owns on the Hillsboro Mile, in Boca Raton and Deerfield Beach as part of his plea agreement. Prosecutors are expected to dismiss the other charges, including witness-tampering and obstruction of justice, after U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom sentences him on May 13. According to prosecutors, Guerriero threatened witnesses and their children and pressured some victims to change their stories. He also [...]

Most Common Investment Adviser Violations

Six investment adviser violations make up roughly 60% of all deficiencies the SEC's staff find when they investigate adviser offices, according to Renee Esfandiary, assistant director of the SEC's Office of Compliance, Inspections and Examinations. The investment adviser violations include: Compliance Rule Violations include not have written policies and procedures to ensure firm operations adhere to all adviser regulations, not following the firm’s own policies and procedures, or not having a chief compliance officer responsible for administering them. Disclosure Violations can occur when advisers fail to update their registration form ADV timely, file it with incorrect information, or do not provide clients or prospective clients with certain information at required times. Fiduciary Duty Investment adviser violations occur a when an adviser fails to act in a client's best interest, such as using client assets for an adviser’s own benefit or for the benefit of another client. This can constitute fraud. Part of this responsibility requires advisers to disclose any conflicts of interest. [...]