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Advisor Accused Of Operating $53M Ponzi Scheme

John Bivona, an unregistered advisor from New Jersey, has been accused of operating a massive Ponzi scheme by the SEC. Bivona allegedly raised over $53 million from investors, whom he told he would put the money in pre-IPO technology companies. Rather, he used the funds to pay his nephew's credit card bills, income taxes, a car loan, attorney fees, and the mortgage on a Jersey Shore vacation home, said the SEC. The Commission's complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, alleges that since October 2013, Bivona "orchestrated a Ponzi-like scheme that has defrauded investors in up-and-coming technology companies." The complaint further states, "Millions of dollars have been funneled to pay for the expenses of earlier funds that Bivona and his companies also manage, while at least $5.7 million has been diverted to family members." Bivona “steered the lion's share of the misappropriated money to benefit [his] nephew, Frank Mazzola, who faced SEC fraud charges [...]

By |April 7th, 2016|Fraud, Press Releases & News, SEC|
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Former Broker Sentenced For Fraud & Tax Evasion

Jeffrey Eldred Gallagher of Bradenton Beach, Florida was sentenced in Springfield, Massachusetts for an investment scheme that defrauded victims out of over $600,000 from 2008 to 2012. According to U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, Gallagher was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to three years in prison. Gallagher was convicted in December 2015 after he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, three counts of engaging in a monetary transaction, and two counts of tax evasion. Ortiz stated that in 1989 Gallagher had been convicted of one count of mail fraud and three counts of interstate transportation of stolen property in connection with his illegal and unauthorized options trading while he was a stockbroker. As a result of that crime, Gallagher lost his stockbroker's license and was sentenced to fifteen months in prison for defrauding clients and a former employer. In his more recent crime, Gallagher persuaded friends and associates to pay him money to [...]

By |March 17th, 2016|Fraud, Press Releases & News|
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Former Broker Indicted On Fraud Charges

Claus Foerster, an ex-broker from South Carolina, was indicted by a grand jury for bilking customers out of $2.8 million during a fourteen-year span. Foerster operated his scheme from 2000 to 2014 while working as a financial advisor at Smith Barney & Co., Morgan Keegan & Co. and Raymond James Financial Inc., according to an indictment in the U.S. District Court in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The allegations stem from FINRA's 2014 decision to bar Foerster from the securities industry for operating a Ponzi scheme. Foerster would tell customers that he had an "excellent investment" for them at SG Investments, a fictional company that Foerster claimed would provide higher returns than the brokerage firms that employed him, according to the indictment. After clients agreed to the investment, Foerster then told them to take out money from their brokerage accounts and put it into their personal banking accounts. Deposits were then transferred to him in the form of checks. Foerster kept the [...]

By |March 11th, 2016|FINRA, Fraud, Press Releases & News|
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Financial Advisor For Ex-Alabama Football Player Pleads Guilty To Fraud

Keith Michael Rogers, a financial advisor from Huntsville, Alabama, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud in connection with the sale of securities, according to the Alabama Securities Commission. Specifically, Rogers' plea was attributed to his engaging in an act, practice or course of business which operated as a fraud or deceit upon his victims. Rogers has also been sued by former University of Alabama football star Kenneth Darby. Rogers' guilty plea was entered before Madison County Circuit Judge Allison Austin. In 2014, the financial advisor was sued by several investors, including Darby, for $2.4 million. In the suit, Darby asserted that he lost his life savings of over $250,000 because of Rogers. Rogers was arrested in 2015 based on an arrest warrant and indictment returned by the July 2015 Madison County Grand Jury. He will be sentenced on April 18. The prosecution will ask for a ten-year prison sentence for Rogers, according to the statement made by the Alabama [...]

By |March 9th, 2016|Fraud, Press Releases & News|
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