Corporate & Securities Law

Non-rated Bonds in Municipal Bond Funds Can Create a ?Red Flag? for Investors

Posted on February 28, 2011
Investors should exercise caution when selecting a municipal bond fund with more than 1/3 of their total assets invested in non-rated bonds. According to industry experts, it is a red flag if a fund carries more than 1/3 of its...

UPDATE: Eccleston Law Launches Expanded Investigation of World Group Securities

Posted on February 25, 2011
Eccleston Law is investigating the sales practices of World Group Securities, Inc. following recent SEC sanctions against the firm for failure to supervise in connection with recommendations to customers of the "use of home equity to purchase variable universal life...

113 Former Lehman Employees Pursued On Questionable Outstanding Promissory Note Claims

Posted on February 24, 2011
As many as 113 former Lehman Brothers Inc. (LBI) employees/advisers are being pursued for collection of their promissory note balances despite the firm?s demise in September 2008. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LBHI) is seeking to collect as much as $51...

Amato Comments on Garden Leave in WSJ Article

Posted on February 23, 2011
Eccleston Law attorney Ronald M. Amato is quoted in the February 22, 2011 Wall Street Journal article, US Trust's 'Garden Leave' May Start Trend. The article is featured in Broker's World, a Dow Jones Newswires column. It discusses the exit...

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Eccleston Law Investigates Monroe Beachy and A&M Investments Following SEC Charges of Affinity Fraud

Posted on February 22, 2011
Eccleston Law have launched an investigation into Monroe J. Beachy following a recent SEC complaint charging Beachy with conducting an unregistered and fraudulent offering of securities that raised more than $33 million. Our attorneys are actively seeking investors who have...

Florida Ponzi Scheme Operator Sentenced to 17 Years

Posted on February 21, 2011
Ronnie Eugene Bass, Jr. of Delray Beach, Florida was recently sentenced to 17 years in Federal prison for his role in operating a Ponzi scheme and affinity fraud that targeted Haitian-American investors residing primarily in South Florida. The SEC alleged...

California Man Indicted for Operating $11 Million Ponzi Scheme

Posted on February 18, 2011
Christopher Jackson of Elk Grove, California, was recently indicted by a federal grand jury for wire fraud in connection with a real estate Ponzi scheme that he allegedly operated. Jackson is believed to have operated the Ponzi scheme through his...

Eccleston Law Launches Investigation of Canadian Biotechnology Company Resverlogix.

Posted on February 17, 2011
The attorneys at Eccleston Law have launched an investigation into Resverlogix Corporation, a Canadian biotechnology company that is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RVX). According to its website, Resverlogix is ?focused on developing novel therapies for unmet...

CNBC Pundit Brian Kim Accused of Running $4 Million Ponzi Scheme

Posted on February 16, 2011
Brian Kim, a New York Hedge fund manager and CNBC pundit has been accused of operating $4 million Ponzi scheme that allegedly victimized at least 45 individual investors. Kim and his hedge fund, Liquid Capital Management, LLC, were recently indicted....

Mitchell Porter & Williams, Inc. Charged with Running Ponzi Scheme Targeting Los Angeles County Bus Operators

Posted on February 15, 2011
The SEC recently charged Mitchell, Porter & Williams, Inc., a Los Angeles investment adviser, and Thomas Mitchell with operating a $14.7 million Ponzi scheme targeting retiring Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority bus drivers. The SEC has alleged that from...

SEC Obtains Order for Disgorgement and Civil Penalties against John W. Lawton and Crossroad Capital Management

Posted on February 14, 2011
The SEC recently obtained an order setting disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties against John W. Lawton, a former resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota now believed to be residing in San Francisco, California and Crossroad Capital Management, LLC, the investment adviser...

President of New Hampshire Mortgage Company Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Posted on February 11, 2011
Scott Farah, the president and founder of New Hampshire-based Financial Resources Mortgage, Inc. , recently plead guilty to fraud and was sentence to fifteen years in prison. The SEC alleged that, beginning in 2005, Farah conducted what is believed to...

Eccleston Law Launches Investigation Into California Based Torrey Pines Securities for Unregistered Private Placement Offering

Posted on February 10, 2011
The attorneys at Eccleston Law have launched an investigation into Del Mar, California broker-dealer Torrey Pines Securities, Inc. for the offer and sale of unregistered securities through a private placement offering. According to SEC documents, starting in August 2006, Dennis...

Private Placement Investment Deals Top the List of Investor Protection Priorities

Posted on February 10, 2011
FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) recently discussed its investor protection priorities at a conference held for independent financial services firms. Unfortunately for that audience, FINRA stated that it has targeted the two products that they sell to customers a...

Eccleston Law Actively Seeking Victims of the Financial Update, Inc. Offering Fraud Perpetrated by Chicago Resident Al Norkus

Posted on February 09, 2011
Eccleston Law has announced that it is actively seeking investors who lost money investing in Financial Update, Inc. through Algird Norkus, a Chicago area broker who was registered with Madison Avenue Securities in Delaware until August 24, 2010. The SEC...

Eccleston Law Launches an Investigation of Homeland Renewable Energy, Inc.

Posted on February 08, 2011
The attorneys at Eccleston Law have launched an investigation into Homeland Renewable Energy, Inc., a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. According to its website, Homeland Renewable Energy holds itself out as being ?the world?s...

Two McHenry County Businessmen Accused of Defrauding Investors

Posted on February 08, 2011
A federal grand jury in Rockford, Illinois recently returned an indictment charging Francis Sanchez of Woodstock, Illinois and James Bourassa of Gilberts, Illinois of defrauding investors out of more than $7,000,000. Sanchez and Bourassa allegedly operated a business known as...

Texas-Based Life Partners Holdings Under SEC Scrutiny

Posted on February 07, 2011
Life Partners Holdings, Inc., is a Waco, Texas based company that arranges for individual investors to purchase interests in third party life insurance policies. It was recently reported that Life Partners, Inc., a subsidiary of Life Partners Holdings, Inc...

James Eccleston Named An Illinois Super Lawyer for 2011

Posted on February 04, 2011
Eccleston Law Offices is pleased to announce that James Eccleston has once again been named an Illinois Super Lawyer. He has been recognized as a Super Lawyer every year since its inception in Illinois in 2005. Each year Law &...

SEC Charges TD Ameritrade for Failing to Supervise Reps Selling Reserve Yield Plus Fund

Posted on February 04, 2011
TD Ameritrade recently agreed to $10 million to settle SEC charges that it failed to supervise its registered representatives, some of whom mislead customers when selling shares of the Reserve Yield Plus Fund, a mutual fund that fell below a...

ECCLESTON LAW LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION OF CHRISTOPHER J. BAHR

Posted on February 03, 2011
Eccleston Law has launched an investigation of Chicago area financial advisor Christopher J. Bahr, formerly of Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC (and Wachovia Securities Financial Network, LLC). Eccleston Law recently filed an arbitration claim on behalf of a senior...

UBS Lehman Principal Protected Notes Disastrous for Investors

Posted on February 02, 2011
UBS Lehman principal protected notes are structured products that were sold by UBS which have become completely worthless following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Many investors have suffered significant losses investing in this product. The Lehman principal protected...

Eccleston Law Launches Investigation into Connecticut Hedge Fund Manager Accused of Fraudulent Misuse of Investor Assets

Posted on February 01, 2011
The SEC recently obtained a court order freezing the assets of Stamford, Connecticut based investment adviser Michael Kenwood Capital Management, LLC and its principal, Francisco Illarramendi for allegedly misappropriating at least $53 million in investor funds and engaging in self...

Eccleston Law Launches Investigation of CanAm Capital Corporation Following Asset Freeze

Posted on January 31, 2011
The California Department of Corporations has obtained an injunction, an asset freeze, and the appointment of a receiver against CanAm Capital Corporation and the individuals operating it for alleged securities fraud violations and diversion of investor funds...

Advisers Need to be on the Lookout for Clients with Dementia

Posted on January 27, 2011
As the American population continues to age, advisers need to be on the lookout for clients with signs of Alzheimer?s disease, dementia or other cognitive diseases. Not only does this protect clients from making or agreeing to financial decisions that...

Victims of Financial Fraud May Have A Variety of Recovery Options Available To Them

Posted on January 27, 2011
In late 2010, the United States Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force announced the results of ?Operation Broken Trust?. The task force reported that it had pending enforcement actions against 500 defendants involving over $10 billion of losses in 2010 alone,...

Non-Listed REITs Are Risky for Retail Investors

Posted on January 26, 2011
Non-listed real estate investment trusts (?REITs?) are designed to allow retail investors to participate in large commercial real estate development projects, such as shopping malls, that they could not otherwise participate in. These non-traded REITs are typically managed by a...

Eccleston Law Launches Investigation of Chicago Hedge Fund Manager Charged with Fraud

Posted on January 25, 2011
Following recent fraud charges, the attorneys at Eccleston Law have launched an investigation of James Brandolino for his role in orchestrating a $3.5 million fraud in and around Joliet, Illinois. Brandolino was registered with the National Futures Association and had...

Nebraska Insurance Agents Accused of Defrauding 250 Investors Out of $29 million

Posted on January 24, 2011
Three former insurance agents have been accused of defrauding more than 250 investors out of approximately $29 million. James Masat, Stella Levea and Kenneth Mottin were the principals of First Americans Insurance Service, a now defunct insurance company that declared...

Forrest David Laidley Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Investors in a $10 million Ponzi Scheme

Posted on January 21, 2011
Forrest David Laidley of Libertyville, Illinois, was recently sentenced to five years in federal prison for operating a $10 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 100 investors in and around the northern suburbs of Chicago. Laidley obtained more than...

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