Reef Oil & Gas Income and Development Fund III, L.P. is currently under investigation for selling speculative oil and gas investments along with a variety of other risky and unsuitable limited partnership investments. These investments are designed for investors whose investment goals are speculation and understand the high risks associated with them. They are not appropriate for investors who want to preserve capital and invest conservatively.

This investment is a private placement investment. Private placements are subject to specific rules when a broker recommends them to a customer. They can only be sold to accredited investors, who according to Regulation D of Rule 501 of the Securities Act of 1933 are people with a net worth of at least $1 million at the time of the purchase (excluding the value of the primary residence) or with an annual income of at least $200,000 in each of the two most recent years (or joint income of $300,000) and a reasonable expectation of the same income in the current year.

Broker-dealers are obligated to satisfactorily disclose the risks involved in an investment and to perform the requisite due diligence to determine whether the investment is suitable for the investor. It seems that a number of brokerage firms may have failed to perform their due diligence before recommending this investment to their clients. These recommendations should further be tailored to fit the investor’s risk tolerance, financial objectives, and investment knowledge. If broker-dealers do not fulfill their duties, they may be held liable for damages through the FINRA arbitration process.

Reef Oil & Gas Income and Development Fund III, L.P. is a Texas limited partnership formed on November 27, 2007. The goal of the partnership is to maximize returns to partners by buying working interests in oil and gas properties and thereafter increasing the value of properties by developing underdeveloped reserves, creating revenue from the production of crude oil and natural gas, distributing cash to the partners, and selling the properties by 2015.

Numerous other potentially unsuitable and risky Reef Oil and Gas investments have also been sold to investors. These include:

– Reef Global Energy I through IX
– Reef Income Funds, various years
– Reef 2007-2009 Drilling Program
– Reef 2010 Drilling Fund
– Reef 2012-2013 Drilling Fund
– Reef 2011 Private Drilling Fund
– Reef 2012-A Private Drilling Fund

If you purchased any of these investment products and were not warned of the risks associated with them or if you do not meet the criteria to be an accredited investor, you may be able to recover damages from the broker and/or the firm that sold it to you. The Frankowski Firm, LLC is currently representing investors in FINRA arbitration claims against broker-dealers that recommended Reef Oil & Gas funds. If you or someone you know has lost money as a result of the Reef Oil & Gas investment product, please contact Richard Frankowski at 888-741-7503 to discuss your potential legal remedies.