Fraud and Misrepresentation

John Micciola – Florida Securities Fraud and Theft FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney

Published on: October 18, 2013 | By Russell L. Forkey, P.A.

In the Matter of John Micciola:

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced the issuance of an Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions (Order) against John Micciola (Micciola), a resident of Freehold, New Jersey. The Order finds that, on August 8, 2011, Micciola was convicted in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in People of the State of New York v. Joseph Stevens & Co., Inc., et al., Case Number 02394-2009 of two counts of securities fraud, one count of grand larceny in the second degree, and one count of grand larceny in the third degree. The Order further finds that Micciola participated in firm-wide schemes that resulted in excessive and undisclosed commissions on stocks.

Based on the above, the Order bars Micciola from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization and from participating in any offering of a penny stock, including acting as a promoter, finder, consultant, agent or other person who engages in activities with a broker, dealer or issuer for purposes of the issuance or trading in any penny stock, or inducing or attempting to induce the purchase or sale of any penny stock. Micciola consented to the issuance of the Order.

Pyramid Scheme – Florida Fraud and Misrepresentation State and Federal Court Litigation Attorney

Published on: October 18, 2013 | By Russell L. Forkey, P.A.

Securities and Exchange Commission v. CKB Holdings Ltd., et al., Civil Action No. 13-5584 (E.D.N.Y., filed October 9, 2013)

SEC Halts $20 Million Pyramid Scheme Targeting Asian-American Community

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced charges and asset freezes against the operators and promoters of a worldwide pyramid scheme targeting members of the Asian-American community. The perpetrators of the scheme falsely promised exponential, risk-free returns to investors in a venture that purportedly sold Internet-based children’s educational courses.

Equity Indexed Annuity – South Florida Insurance and Securities Fraud FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney

Published on: October 16, 2013 | By Russell L. Forkey, P.A.

Equity Indexed Annuity (Elder Abuse) – Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Lake Worth and West Palm Beach, Florida Insurance (fixed and variable annuity) and Securities Fraud and Misrepresentation FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney:

An Equity Indexed Annuity is an annuity whose interest or other types of earnings, during the accumulation period, are linked to rises in a stock index. Such contracts have a minimum annual return that guarantees principal, so they can offer upside potential and downside protection. They sometimes come with a cap and usually have early withdrawal (surrender) penalties.

Recently, we have seen an increase in the twisting of fixed and variable annuity and other types of insurance products. Twisting is the unethical practice of convincing a customer to trade and insurance product unnecessarily, thereby generating a commission for the broker or salesperson. An example of twisting in the insurance arena arises when an insurance salesperson persuades a policyholder to cancel his or her policy or allow it to lapse, in order to sell the insured a new policy, which would be more costly but which would produce sizable commissions for the salesperson. The damage associated with this unethical practice is particularly devastating to the elderly.

Zero Coupon Bond or Security – Boca Raton, Florida Corporate and Municipal Bond and Stock FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney

Published on: October 15, 2013 | By Russell L. Forkey, P.A.

Zero Coupon Bond (Security) – Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach, Florida Corporate and Municipal Bond and Stock Fraud and Misrepresentation FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.

A Zero Coupon Bond (Security) is investment instrument that makes no periodic interest payments bust instead is sold at a deep discount from its face value. The buyer of the instrument receives the rate of return by the gradual appreciation of the security, which is redeemed at face value on a specified maturity date.

There are many kinds of zero-coupon securities. The most commonly known is the zero-coupon bond, which either may be issued at a deep discount by a corporation or government entity or may be created by a brokerage firm when it strips the coupons off a bond and sells the corpus and the coupons separately.

Broker – Dealers (How to Identify One) – Florida Securities and Investment Fraud and Mismanagement FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney

Published on: October 12, 2013 | By Russell L. Forkey, P.A.

Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach Florida Investment Fraud and Misrepresentation FINRA Arbitration, AAA Arbitration, JAMS Arbitration, State and Federal Court Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.

Who can be classified as a “Broker”.

Before considering if you were impacted by broker/dealer fraud, misrepresentation, mismanagement, breach of fiduciary duty or negligence, it is necessary for the reader to understand what constitutes a broker/dealer and what the difference is between the two. Section 3(a)(4)(A) of the Act generally defines a “broker” broadly as any person engaged in the business of effecting transactions in securities for the account of others.

Master Limited Partnership v. Public Limited Partnership – Florida Limited Partnership Federal, State and Arbitration Attorney

Published on: October 6, 2013 | By Russell L. Forkey, P.A.

Master Limited Partnership v. Public Limited Partnership – Florida Limited Partnership – Federal and State Litigation Attorney: Fraud in the Inducement, breach of the partnership agreement, mismanagement of the partnership, self-dealing and fraud in the operation of the partnership.

A limited partnership is a form of legal entity created under the law of a particular state. In Florida, the statute dealing with limited partnerships is Florida Statute Sections 620.1101 through 620.2205. To review a complete copy of this state, please follow the highlighted link:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699/0620/0620PartIContentsIndex.html&StatuteYear=2013&Title=%2D%3E2013%2D%3EChapter%20620%2D%3EPart%20I

Prime Bank Fraud, Bank Guarantee Fraud, Gemstone Fraud, Precious Metals Fraud and Sovereign Bond Fraud – Florida Investment Fraud and Misrepresentation FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney

Published on: October 3, 2013 | By Russell L. Forkey, P.A.

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Brett A. Cooper, Global Funding Systems LLC, Dream Holdings, LLC, Fortitude Investing, LLC, Peninsula Waterfront Development, LP, and REOP Group Inc. and David H. Frederickson and The Law Offices of David H. Frederickson, Civil Action No. 1:13-cv-05781-RMB-AMD (D.N.J.) and 1:13-cv-05787-RMB-AMD (D.N.J.)

SEC Charges New Jersey Resident in Prime Bank Investment Scheme and Files Settled Charges Against California Attorney Escrow Agent

Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against New Jersey resident Brett A. Cooper and his companies Global Funding Systems LLC, Dream Holdings, LLC, Fortitude Investing, LLC, Peninsula Waterfront Development, LP and REOP Group Inc., who from at least November 2008 through about April 2012 perpetrated three fraudulent schemes and engaged in various fraudulent and deceitful acts, practices and courses of business in furtherance of those schemes.

EB-5 Visa Program Fraud – Florida EB-5 Fraud and Misrepresentation Litigation and Arbitration Attorney

Published on: October 2, 2013 | By Russell L. Forkey, P.A.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Halts a Texas-Based Scheme Targeting Foreign Investors Seeking U.S. Residency Through EB-5 Visa Program:

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced fraud charges against a husband and wife in Texas for stealing funds from foreign investors under the guise of an investment opportunity to create U.S. jobs and a path to U.S. residency.

The SEC alleges that Marco and Bebe Ramirez and three companies they own have fraudulently raised at least $5 million from investors by falsely promising that their money would be invested as part of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program. Through the program, foreign investors can earn conditional visas and eventually green cards by making investments in U.S. economic development projects that will create or preserve a minimum number of jobs for U.S. workers. Instead of investing the money as promised, the Ramirezes routinely diverted investor funds to other undisclosed businesses and for their personal use. In at least one instance, they used new investor funds to make Ponzi-like payments to an existing investor.

“EB-5” Private Placement and Other Investment Abuses – Florida Private Placement and Other Investment Abuses Fraud and Misrepresentation FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney

Published on: October 2, 2013 | By Russell L. Forkey, P.A.

Investment Scams That Exploit The Immigrant Investor Program:

Recently, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) jointly issued an Investor Alert to warn individual investors about fraudulent investment scams that exploit the Immigrant Investor Program, also known as “EB-5.”

The EB-5 program provides certain foreign investors who can demonstrate that their investments are creating jobs in this country, with a potential avenue to lawful permanent residency in the United States. Business owners apply to USCIS to be designated as “regional centers” for the EB-5 program. These regional centers offer investment opportunities in “new commercial enterprises” that may involve securities offerings. Through EB-5, a foreign investor who invests a certain amount of money that is placed at risk, and creates or preserves a minimum number of jobs in the United States, is eligible to apply for conditional lawful permanent residency. Toward the end of the two-year period of conditional residency, the foreign investor is eligible to apply to have the conditions on their lawful permanent residency removed, if he or she can establish that the job creation requirements have been met. Foreign investors who invest through EB-5, however, are not guaranteed a visa or to become lawful permanent residents of the United States. For more details, read the EB-5 Immigrant Investor section of USCIS’s website at www.uscis.gov.

Jenny Coplan and Immigration General Services – South Florida Affinity and Ponzi Scheme Fraud and Misrepresentation Litigation and FINRA Arbitration Attorney

Published on: September 30, 2013 | By Russell L. Forkey, P.A.

SEC Charges South Florida Woman Behind Ponzi Scheme Targeting Colombian-American Community

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a woman living in South Florida with defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme and affinity fraud that targeted the local Colombian-American community and involved purported investments in immigration bail bonds.

The SEC alleges that Jenny E. Coplan told investors that her company Immigration General Services operated through an investment broker that would invest the funds she raised in immigration bail bonds and turn a profit. Coplan promised interest payments ranging from 60 to 108 percent annually. She also assured investors that their money was safe because it was insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). However, Coplan never placed investor funds with any investment broker, and their money was never FDIC insured. Instead, she paid supposed profits to earlier investors using funds from newer investors in classic Ponzi fashion, and she stole approximately $878,000 of investor money for her own personal use.