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FINRA Files Complaint Against Dawn Bennett

FINRA filed a complaint against Dawn Bennett for failing to testify in its investigation of possible fraud related to her clothing company. Bennett did not appear for testimony on four different occasions between April and September of this year, violating FINRA's rules, according to FINRA's complaint. The charges come roughly a year after the regulator started looking into her for allegedly engaging in fraud while working at Western International Securities. Last year, Dawn Bennett allegedly solicited her employer's clients in a debt deal that supposedly was guaranteed by her retail clothing business at DJBennett.com. She sold roughly six million dollars worth of promissory and convertible notes to around thirty investors, a substantial number of whom were elderly and included Western's customers, FINRA's complaint states. FINRA discovered that she potentially misappropriated investor funds, committed fraud, and performed undisclosed outside business activities and private securities transactions. Western allowed Bennett to resign November of last year. “Evidence gathered during the investigation reveals that [...]

By |December 2nd, 2016|Broker Check, FINRA, Fraud, Legal Matters, Press Releases & News, SEC|
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Levi David Lindemann Receives 6-Year Sentence For Ponzi Scheme

Levi David Lindemann, a Minnesota investment advisor, received a six-year prison sentence for stealing from clients and operating a Ponzi scheme, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce. Lindemann was sentenced to 74 months imprisonment by a U.S. District Court, having pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal mail fraud and money-laundering charges. He was the owner and operator of Gershwin Financial Inc., which did business as Alternative Wealth solutions, from 2009 to 2014. “Lindemann abused his position of trust as a financial adviser to steal from his clients, including the elderly,” Mike Rothman, Minnesota's commerce commissioner, said. “Lindemann defrauded his victims by promising to put their money in legitimate, safe investments when he actually used the funds to pay for personal expenses and Ponzi-type payments to other clients to cover up and continue his fraud.” According to Levi David Lindemann's guilty plea, he solicited funds from roughly 50 investors and said he would “use the invested funds to buy secured [...]

By |November 28th, 2016|Broker Check, Fraud, Press Releases & News, SEC|
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Paul Lebel Barred By SEC For Churning

Paul Lebel, a broker formerly with LPL Financial from 2008 to 2014, was barred by the SEC for churning and excessively trading mutual funds in customer accounts and generating excess fees. According to the SEC administrative proceeding, Lebel "defrauded four customers by churning several of their accounts. In particular, Lebel exercised de facto control over these customers' accounts and excessively traded mutual fund shares which carry large front-end load fees.” According to the commission, Paul Lebel bought and sold mutual fund A shares, which are meant to be long-term, buy-and-hold investments, generating $50,000 in commissions. Lebel will pay $56,500 as part of the settlement. “Lebel's excessive trading was inconsistent with the customers' investment objectives, and willfully disregarded the customers' interest,” according to the SEC. “From August 2008 through August 2014, Lebel executed numerous mutual fund A share trades that, in light of Lebel's customers investment objectives, were fraudulent, made to the detriment of Lebel's customers, and [...]

By |October 19th, 2016|Press Releases & News, SEC|
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SEC Hits UDF With Wells Notice

The Frankowski Firm, LLC currently represents multiple investors who have invested in troubled United Development Funding REITs. Earlier this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Wells notice against the Texas company, which indicates that the SEC has made a preliminary determination to potentially recommend an enforcement action against it. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ stock market has delisted UDF IV shares. The UDF REITs have been in trouble for nearly a year. A hedge fund with a short position in UDF IV shares last December claimed the company had been operating as a Ponzi scheme for years. The FBI raided the REIT's headquarters in a suburb of Dallas in February. At that time, the NASDAQ stopped the trading of UDF IV shares at $3.20, which was down 81% over the previous year. During the last few months, UDF IV has publicly claimed that it was working to file its 2015 annual reports and its last three quarterly reports with the SEC [...]

By |October 19th, 2016|Fraud, Press Releases & News, SEC|
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