Articles Posted in Current Investigations

Private placements are securities sold to a small number of investors.  They’re also known as “alternative investments” or “Regulation D investments” after the governing portion of U.S. securities law.  Some private placements can be exempt from registration from the SEC.  In the absence of an established public market for these products, private placements tend to…

A variable annuity is a life insurance contract, a wager on the life expectancy of a person.  In return for an investment of an initial lump sum or series of premium payments, the investor begins receiving an income stream at a certain milestone, for instance as the annuitant reaches retirement age. That income stream keeps…

A variable annuity is a life insurance contract, a wager on the life expectancy of a person.  In return for an investment of an initial lump sum or series of premium payments, the investor begins receiving an income stream at a certain milestone, for instance as the annuitant reaches retirement age. That income stream keeps…

A variable annuity is a life insurance contract, a wager on the life expectancy of a person.  In return for an investment of an initial lump sum or series of premium payments, the investor begins receiving an income stream at a certain milestone, for instance as the annuitant reaches retirement age. That income stream keeps…

A variable annuity is a life insurance contract, a wager on the life expectancy of a person.  In return for an investment of an initial lump sum or series of premium payments, the investor begins receiving an income stream at a certain milestone, for instance as the annuitant reaches retirement age. That income stream keeps…

In March of 2013 we posted concerns about Aequitas in an article you can review here for problems involving long term care insurance.  If you’re an investor in any Aequitas offering, we welcome your call. Please contact our office for a free consultation.  We might be able to help you recover financial losses.

A New Your Times Dealbook post reports that some UBS customers were encouraged by brokers to borrow money to invest in these funds believing that they were safe investments. Some UBS clients have allegedly been forced to liquidate investments to meet margin calls.If you invested in UBS Puerto Rican funds on the recommendation of a broker and…

Investment News reported today that SWS Financial Services is facing charges regarding its sale of variable annuity applications. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) complaint alleges that SWS gave the go ahead on numerous variable annuity applications without principal review for suitability. FINRA requires that firms have supervisory systems and written procedures to supervise VA…

Page one of the Wall Street Journal today reports a devastating truth: Brokerage reports are full of holes . Criminal charges, bankruptcy filings, tax liens, and a host of other complaints and violations are missing from the reports on stockbrokers that are available on FINRA’s brokercheck website, The Wall Street Journal article, entitled Stockbrokers Fail…

Our original concerns about Wells Fargo Broker Adorean Boleancu have escalated. In March, Boleancu was ordered by FINRA to pay back a widowed client $650,000. He was indicted on charges of check fraud and money laundering in California and, in a civil complaint filed in August of 2012, it was alleged that Boleancu made an…