Category Archives: investment fraud
Ameriprise Fined Millions For Failing To Protect Customers From Misappropriation
Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. (CRD: 6363) is a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registered broker-dealer and investment adviser based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who has been censured and ordered to pay a $4,500,000.00 civil penalty as part of resolving the SEC’s allegations that the firm neglected to establish and apply procedures and policies with a… Read More »
Customers Suing Morgan Stanley Over Unsuitable Equities
Kirk J. Gill (CRD: 2291503) is a former Morgan Stanley financial advisor from Tucson, Arizona. According to Gill’s FINRA BrokerCheck file, he is currently, or was previously, referenced in fifteen customer-initiated, investment-related disputes (comprised of complaints or FINRA arbitrations) containing allegations of sales practice violations including unsuitable trading, unauthorized trading, misrepresentation, breach of contract… Read More »
Customer Complaint Filed Against Ameriprise’s Michael Jay Pepe
Michael Jay Pepe (CRD: 1172861) is an Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. broker based in the Tampa, Florida area. According to Pepe’s FINRA BrokerCheck profile, he is currently, or was previously, the subject of at least six customer-initiated, investment-related disputes (comprised of complaints or arbitrations) containing allegations of sales practice violations including unauthorized and unsuitable… Read More »
SEC Launches Additional Investor Protection Search Tool
05/02/2018 The SEC’s “SALI” Tool Will Allow Investors to Identify Individuals Subject to Judgments or Orders in Enforcement Actions FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2018-78 Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the launch of an additional online search feature that enables investors to research whether the person trying to sell them investments… Read More »
SEC Shuts Down $102 Million Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges and obtained an asset freeze against the individuals and companies behind a $102 million Ponzi scheme that bilked investors throughout the U.S. According to the SEC’s complaint, the defendants defrauded more than 600 investors through sales of securities in issuers they controlled, including First Nationle Solution… Read More »
SEC Charges Long Island Investment Professional in $8 Million Scam Targeting Long-Standing Brokerage Customers
05/30/2018 04:05 PM EDT The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former registered representative with defrauding long-standing brokerage customers in an $8 million investment scam. According to the SEC’s complaint, Steven Pagartanis, who was affiliated with a registered broker-dealer, told some investors – including retirees who had been Pagartanis’s customers for many years… Read More »
Investor Alert: Ponzi Schemes Targeting Seniors
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) and Retail Strategy Task Force are warning investors about Ponzi schemes that prey on senior investors. Many seniors have spent years saving and investing, which is a great way to achieve financial security – but also may make them targets for investment fraud, including Ponzi… Read More »
Market Volatility is a Reminder that Elderly Investors are Vulnerable to Financial Abuse
In January, Patrick T. Harker, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, authored an important op-ed that appeared in Bloomberg View. Mr. Harker noted that elderly investors are at heightened risk of financial abuse, and that bankers and financial institutions need to do more to protect these vulnerable inventors. Soon after this… Read More »
SEC Charges Operators of $1.2 Billion Ponzi Scheme Targeting Main Street Investors
12/21/2017 12:10 PM EST The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges and an asset freeze against a group of unregistered funds and their owner who allegedly bilked thousands of retail investors, many of them seniors, in a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. SEC investigators filed this action to prevent further dissipation of investor assets after obtaining court orders in September andNovember in subpoena enforcement actions that forced… Read More »
Former Invest Financial Advisor Roger Kroeger arrested and charged with embezzlement and money laundering
According to news reports, Former Invest Financial Advisor Roger Kroeger arrested and charged with embezzlement and money laundering from 92 year old woman’s investment account. If you or a family member or friend have concerns about how your investment or stock brokerage account has been handled or if you have any questions concerning the… Read More »
