South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog

Prohibited Activities of Corporate Officers and Directors – Broward and Palm Beach County, Florida Corporate Misconduct Litigation and Arbitration Attorney: It is a cardinal principle, in Florida, that an officer or director of a corporation will not be permitted to make profit out of his official position and because of their fiduciary character, officers and…

Accountant’s Liability to Third Parties – Florida Accounting Negligence Litigation and Arbitration Attorney – Russell L. Forkey, Esq. WHEN AN ACCOUNTANT FAILS TO EXERCISE REASONABLE AND ORDINARY CARE IN PREPARING THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF HIS CLIENT AND WHERE THAT ACCOUNTANT PERSONALLY DELIVERS AND PRESENTS THE STATEMENTS TO A THIRD PARTY TO INDUCE THAT THIRD PARTY…

Margin Abuse – South Florida FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq. A margin account is a type of brokerage account that allows customers to buy securities with money borrowed from their brokerage firm. Margin accounts are governed by Regulation T, adopted by the Federal Reserve, by various rules adopted by the Financial…

Florida Oil and Gas Fruad, Misrepresentation and Ponzi Scheme Litigation and Arbitration Attorney: The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced charges and an emergency asset freeze against the perpetrators of a Texas-based Ponzi scheme involving purported investments in oil and gas projects. The SEC alleges that Robert A. Helms and Janniece S. Kaelin, who work…

Financial Elder Abuse and Elder Exploitation – Boca Raton, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida Litigation and Arbitration Attorney: Florida Statute Section 415.1111 grants to vulnerable (elder) adults a cause of action as a result of financial and other types of abuse. It provides that a vulnerable adult who has been abused,…

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a New York-based penny stock financier and his firms with violating the federal securities laws when they purchased billions of shares in a pair of microcap companies and failed to register them before they were re-sold to investors for sizeable profits. Curt Kramer and his firms Mazuma Corporation,…

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Charles H. Merchant, Sr. and Southern USA Resources, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:13-cv-3879-SCJ (N.D. Ga.) SEC Charges Alabama Based Defendants with Securities Fraud and Reporting Violations Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an action in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia, charging Charles H. Merchant, Sr. (Merchant),…

South Florida Elder Abuse Insurance and Annuity Fraud and Misrepresentation Attorney Russell L. Forkey, Esq. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently charged a self-described institutional trader in Colorado with defrauding elderly investors into making purported investments in government-secured bonds as he used their money to pay his mortgage. The SEC alleges that Gary C.…

Tampa, Fort Meyers and Naples, Florida Investment Adviser Fraud, Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Misrepresentation FINRA Arbitration and State and Federal Court Litigation Attorney: The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced charges against two Tampa-area investment advisers accused of committing fraud by failing to truthfully inform clients about compensation received from offshore funds they were…

Margin Abuse, Margin Miscalculation and Excessive Margin – South Florida FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney: “Margin” is borrowing money from your broker to buy a stock and using your investment as collateral. Investors generally use margin to increase their purchasing power so that they can own more stock without fully paying for it. But margin…