Dwayne Edwards Accused Of Fraud By SEC

The SEC charged Dwayne Edwards with fraud and obtained an emergency asset freeze against the South Carolina businessman. The SEC alleges that he funneled money he obtained from investors who believed their money would be used for buying and renovating senior housing facilities. According to the commission, Dwayne Edwards illicitly commingled funds from a number of municipal bond offerings and the revenues of the facilities underlying the offerings. Each offering was purported to fund a specific assisted living or memory care facility in Alabama or Georgia. Edwards used investor funds for his own private use in addition to funding other unrelated bond offerings, according to the SEC. The complaint accuses Edwards of violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint was filed in Newark, New Jersey federal district court. The court granted the SEC's request to freeze the assets of Edwards. The court also appointed a temporary receiver over the [...]

SEC Charges Edward Durante With Securities Fraud

The SEC charged Edward Durante, a recidivist securities law violator, with operating a multi-year offering fraud that targeted investors in New England, Ohio, and California. The SEC’s complaint alleges that between 2012 and 2014, Durante defrauded at least 50 relatively unsophisticated investors of at least $11 million through the sale of securities of VGTel, Inc., a shell company he controlled. According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal district court in Manhattan, Durante defrauded investors by selling approximately six million shares of VGTel stock to investors using a fictitious name to hide his criminal past and lying to investors regarding the use of stock sale proceeds. Durante also bribed investment advisers, who advised their clients to purchase VGTel stock without disclosing to their clients that they had been bribed. Durante also engaged in matched trading of VGTel stock with a stockbroker to artificially control the stock’s market price. The SEC’s complaint charges Durante with violating Sections 17(a) of the Securities Act [...]

FINRA December 2015 Disciplinary Actions: Part I

Brookstone Securities, Inc. (Lakeland, FL) was censured, fined $1,000,000 and required to pay, jointly and severally with Christopher Dean Kline (Baraboo, Wisconsin) and Antony Lee Turbeville (Lakeland, FL) $1,620,100 plus prejudgment interest in restitution to their respective customers. Kline and Turbeville were barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. David William Locy (Overland Park, Kansas) was fined $25,000, barred from association with any FINRA member in any supervisory or principal capacity and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two years. FINRA found that the firm, acting through Turbeville and Kline, fraudulently made material misrepresentations of fact and omitted material facts that misled senior and retired customers regarding the risks associated with CMOs, in willful violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Monex Securities, Inc. (Houston, TX) submitted an AWC in which the firm was censured, fined $25,000, and required to pay $9,678.52 plus interest in [...]

Gold Mining Ponzi Scheme Targets Latinos in Florida

On July 2, 2015, the SEC froze a fraudulent venture headed by DFRF Enterprises, its leader, and six promoters. The SEC alleges that DFRF Enterprises operated a Ponzi scheme by promoting and selling membership interests in over 50 Brazilian and African gold mines.  The company recruited investors by promising large profits on fully insured funds used to mine gold.  The company further claimed that 25% of all profits would be used for African charity work. DFRF Enterprises marketed the Ponzi scheme by asserting that the company was registered with the SEC and that  the gold mine stock would be publicly traded. However, instead of using investor funds in Brazilian and African gold mines, the company, its leader, and promotors sold membership interests to investors through private meetings held in homes, businesses, and hotel rooms.  Newly recruited members’ investments were paid to long-term members. In 2014, the company illegally raised over $15 million from at least 1,400 investors, most of which lived in [...]