News and Articles

Author Archives: Valerie Escobar

FINRA Barred PFS Investment Broker, Jeffrey Dampf, for Defrauding Elderly Clients

Posted byValerie Escobar

On October 1, 2021, FINRA announced that it barred former PFS Investments Inc. broker, Jeffrey Dampf, from the securities industry.  As part of the settlement, Dampf consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings via a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent, after FINRA alleged that Dampf refuse to cooperate with its investigation into allegations that he stole money from an elderly client. Dampf did not testify or turn over documents to FINRA in its investigation of the matter, according to the order.

According to the investigation, about a year ago, Dampf, 70, was charged with attempted theft, alleging that he, in his capacity as the power of attorney and accountant for two elderly siblings, was misappropriating funds entrusted to him for the care of the two elderly victims.  “Dampf attempted to electronically transfer $500,000 to an investment account from the elderly victim’s bank account for his own personal benefit,” according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey.  “Basically, I’m going to fight this whole thing, not with FINRA but the courts,” Dampf said in an interview. “I haven’t taken a nickel.”   “I was the power of attorney,” he said. “The caregivers were stealing left and right.”

This case illustrates how easily vulnerable adults can be exploited by unscrupulous professionals.  If you have elderly friends or relatives who may be vulnerable, please take whatever steps you can to protect them from this type of exploitation.  If you wish to discuss any securities related question, please contact David A. Weintraub, P.A., 7805 SW 6th Court, Plantation, FL  33324.  By phone: 954.693.7577 or 800.718.1422

SEC Charges Former Executives of TCA Fund Management Group Corp.

Posted byValerie Escobar

On September 30, 2021, the SEC charged Robert D. Press, the former CEO, and Donna M. Silverman, the former Chief Portfolio Manager of TCA Fund Management Group, Corp.  for their alleged roles in the firm’s scheme to artificially inflate values and performance results of several of the firm’s funds.

According to the SEC investigation, Press allegedly recorded non-binding transactions and fraudulent investment banking fees in the fund’s books and records.  Subsequently, the inflated asset values and false performance results were included in promotional materials and account statements distributed to the TCA funds’ current and prospective investors, creating a false sense of having positive monthly returns.  In fact, the funds had at least 34 months of negative returns since inception.

According to the Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office “Press and TCA gave investors a false portrayal of the TCA Funds’ investment success, with Press profiting from this misinformation.”   Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Press and Silverman each agreed to the entry of a cease-and-desist order.  In addition, Press agreed to be barred from the securities industry, and to pay disgorgement of overcharged management and performance fees he received of $4,409,546 plus interest and penalties.  Silverman agreed to a limitation on activities from acting in a director or officer capacity in the securities industry, and to pay a penalty of $50,000.

 

Seeman Holtz Lawsuits

Posted byValerie Escobar

Several lawsuits have been filed during recent weeks alleging that Florida financial firm Seeman Holtz (SH) defrauded investors. The suits allege that SH sold unregistered securities to unsuspecting and unsophisticated investors, many of whom were in their 90’s.  The investments were purportedly life insurance-backed promissory notes.  Not only were the notes not registered as securities, SH has never been a registered brokerage dealer, and its salesmen were not registered associated persons.

The lawsuits allege that SH’s salesmen visited upscale communities and preyed on elderly investors who wanted stable and secure investments. SH told investors that “the Notes were safe and secure and would be collateralized by a portfolio of life insurance policies which would provide safety of principal and substantial returns.” Investors were assured that their promissory notes would be “liquid and that they would be repaid upon maturity.” One of SH’s clients had purchased multiple notes, of which the client’s suit details two. One note matured in January of 2019 and the other matured a year later. These notes were collectively worth approximately $226,000 and have since defaulted.

It should be noted that Eric Holtz, a cofounder of SH and a defendant in the lawsuits at hand, committed suicide earlier this month.

In one of the pending lawsuits, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation accuses SH of running a “ponzi-type” scheme, accusing the firm of various violations of Florida’s blue-sky statute, including fraud.  As of this date, the SEC has not publicly announced whether it is investigating Seeman Holtz.

If you wish to discuss any securities related question, please contact David A. Weintraub, P.A., 7805 SW 6th Court, Plantation, FL  33324.  By phone: 954.693.7577 or 800.718.1422.

Herbert J. Sims & Co. Ordered to Cease and Desist

Posted byValerie Escobar

On July 30, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-and-desist order against investment firm Herbert J. Sims & Co., Inc “HJS”.  The SEC found that between January 2015 and April 2018 HJS made unsuitable investment recommendations to forty-five customers.  Thirteen registered brokers at HJS’s Boca Raton, Florida branch recommended certain high-risk and highly sophisticated variable interest rate structured products “VRSPs” to forty-five customers.  Brokers are required to determine whether an investment is in their client’s best financial interests.  All of the VRSPs recommended and sold to the clients at issue had maturity periods of at least fifteen years.  Notwithstanding this, the product was sold to elderly clients.  VRSPs are “principal-at-risk” securities, meaning that investors can lose part of or their entire principal.  The HJS brokers recommended these VRSPs to elderly clients with low risk tolerance and low annual income.  In one example, an HJS broker “recommended the purchase of over $30,000 in VRSPs to a 69-year-old customer with a low risk tolerance, an investment objective of income, an annual income of less than $25,000, and a net worth of less than $185,000.”

The SEC ordered HJS to hire an independent consultant to review its policies and procedures that are designed to prevent and detect unsuitable recommendations.  The SEC also fined HJS $250,000.

If you wish to discuss any securities related question, please contact David A. Weintraub, P.A., 7805 SW 6th Court, Plantation, FL  33324.  By phone: 954.693.7577 or 800.718.1422.

The Arizona Corporation Commission ordered Jayson Papa, David Miller and Associates to Pay Restitution

Posted byValerie Escobar

On May 18, 2021, the securities division of the Arizona Corporation Commission ordered Jayson Papa, David Miller, and associates to pay restitution and penalties for defrauding investors. Miller operated a company called Meroe Capital Group Ltd. which was retained by Papa’s company, Castle International, LLC. The respondents in the ACC’s order offered and sold securities in the form of at least 22 notes to at least l1 investors, for a total of at least $1,119,425. All of the securities were unregistered and were all fraudulent.

Miller found investors by approaching strangers in public places, such as gyms and restaurants. He told offerees that Castle International was “an exciting company that conducted medical transports domestically and did rescue missions outside the U.S. Miller claimed that Meroe, his “firm,” was a serious Wall Street investment firm. The company’s website and materials featured a Wall Street address, which was in reality a virtual office. Miller told one investor that Castle International was such an exciting company that he personally invested $200,000 in it. The investors’ notes were never fulfilled.

One must always remain diligent in regard to one’s investments. If you wish to discuss any securities related question, please contact David A. Weintraub, P.A., 7805 SW 6th Court, Plantation, FL  33324.  By phone: 954.693.7577 or 800.718.1422.

 

Arizona Corporation Commission issued an order against Gutman

Posted byValerie Escobar

On May 5th, 2021, the securities division of the Arizona Corporation Commission issued an order against Jerry L. Gutman. Gutman was a broker with United Planners’ Financial Services of America. Gutman sold unregistered securities in the form of membership interests in at least six different LLCs to thirty-one clients of his firm and seven non-clients without disclosing the sales to his firm. The sales totaled over $7,000,000.

For instance, Guttman sold membership interests in Serenity Cemeteries VI, LLC to sixteen investors in exchange for $2,687,500, of which $1,678,374 has been repaid. None of the investments were registered with the ACC and none of them were recorded in United’s records.

Guttman sold membership interests in the following companies: Serenity Cemeteries II, LLC; Serenity Cemeteries IV, LLC; Serenity Cemeteries VI, LLC; Serenity VII, LLC; and Champion Entertainment Group, LLC.

Guttman was ordered to pay restitution to the investors and penalties to the State of Arizona.

One must always remain diligent in regard to one’s investments. If you wish to discuss any securities related question, please contact David A. Weintraub, P.A., 7805 SW 6th Court, Plantation, FL  33324.  By phone: 954.693.7577 or 800.718.1422.

SEC Charges Felon and Six Others in Oil-and-Gas Offering Fraud

Posted byValerie Escobar

On April 14, 2021 the Securities and Exchange Commission charged seven individuals, including criminal recidivist Richard Dale Sterritt, Jr., with defrauding investors in a multimillion-dollar oil-and-gas bid racket and related market manipulation scheme.

The SEC’s complaint alleges that, between March 2018 and at least November 2020, Sterritt – who used the pseudonym “Richard Richman” – Michael Greer, Deanna Looney, Robert Magness, Jr., Katie Mathews, James Christopher Pittman, and Mark Ross raised more than $16 million from more than 300 investors through an unregistered private placement of the common stock of Zona Energy Inc., a Dallas-based company that claimed to be focused on the oil and gas industry. According to the complaint, the defendants made various false and misleading statements verbally and in offering materials to solicit investors, including that their funds would be used to support Zona’s operations, namely to develop the mineral rights on a West Texas cattle ranch. The complaint further alleges that instead of using investors’ money to capitalize Zona, Sterritt and his co-defendants misappropriated millions of dollars raised in the offering, using the funds to pay for luxury goods, rental apartments, a car, and to make cash payments to friends, family members, and Sterritt’s girlfriends. Also, according to the complaint, the offering materials falsely claimed that Zona had no debt when the company actually owed millions of dollars in demand notes to various Sterritt-controlled companies.

The Securities and Exchange Commission urges investors to check the background of anyone selling them an investment and to always independently research investment opportunities.  FINRA’s BrokerCheck website is one such source.  When verifiable information is unavailable, generally, one should walk away.

SEC Obtains Emergency Asset Freeze, Charges Actor with Operating a $690 Million Ponzi Scheme

Posted byValerie Escobar

The Securities and Exchange Commission reported on April 6, 2021 that it had secured an asset freeze and other urgent relief in an emergency compliance action against Los Angeles-based actor Zachary Horwitz and his firm, 1inMM (one in a million) Capital, LLC, in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme that raised over $690 million. Horwitz and 1inMM reportedly told investors that they were purchasing film rights with the intent of reselling them to Netflix and HBO; however, 1inMM had no commercial arrangement with either group.

Horwitz reportedly gave investors fabricated agreements and emails relating to the suspected HBO and Netflix sales. Horwitz guaranteed excessive returns and made them seem possible by using the titles of two well-known film firms and fabricating records. Horwitz misappropriated investment funds for personal use, including the purchasing of his multi-million dollar home, flights to Las Vegas, and payment to a millionaire interior designer. Horwitz falsely claimed to have a track record of successfully selling movie rights to Netflix and HBO when in fact neither Horwitz nor 1inMM had ever sold or done business with these two companies.

The SEC accused Horwitz and 1inMM of violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The fact of the matter is that there is nothing unusual about this scam.  Simply put, there was an abundance of people looking to invest money without engaging in adequate due diligence.  As long as investors are willing to be naïve with their savings, there will always be someone out there hawking returns that seem to good to be true.

SEC Charges California-Based Fraudster With Selling “Insider Tips” on the Dark Web

Posted byValerie Escobar

On March 18, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged James Roland Jones with running a fraudulent online scheme to market “insider tips” on the dark web.  The dark web enables users to access the internet anonymously and is frequently used as a marketplace for illegal activity.  This is also referred to as the “black market.”

In late 2016 and 2017, Jones, utilizing the dark web, sought to acquire non-public, inside information that for his own use.  He later sought the non-public information in order to sell it.  Although Jones never acquired inside information, he attempted to deceive others into believing he had the information and that it was for sale.

Several clients paid in bitcoin and purchased the alleged tips based on the information Jones provided. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Jones with violating anti-fraud provisions.

This case demonstrates that the SEC can and will go after securities law violators wherever they operate, including the dark web.  If you have not hired an attorney and wish to discuss any securities related question, please contact David A. Weintraub, P.A., 7805 SW 6th Court, Plantation, FL  33324.  By phone: 954.693.7577 or 800.718.1422.

SEC Charges Investment Adviser and Others With Defrauding Over 17,000 Retail Investors

Posted byValerie Escobar

On February 4, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged three individuals and their associated companies with operating a Ponzi-like scheme that allegedly raised over $1.7 billion from securities issued by GPB Capital.  The SEC also charged GPB Capital with violating the whistleblower protection rules.

 

The SEC’s complaint alleges that David Gentile, the owner and CEO of GPB Capital, and Jeffry Schneider, the owner of GPB Capital’s placement agent Ascendant Capital, lied to investors about the source of money used to make an 8% annualized distribution payment to investors.  According to the complaint, these defendants along with Ascendant Alternative Strategies, which marketed GPB Capital’s investments, told investors that the distribution payments were paid exclusively with monies generated by GPB Capital’s portfolio companies.  As alleged, GPB Capital actually used investor money to pay portions of the annualized 8% distribution payments.  GPB Capital and Gentile with assistance from Jeffrey Lash, a former managing partner at GPB Capital, also allegedly manipulated the financial statements of certain limited partnership funds managed by GPB Capital to perpetuate the deception by giving the false appearance that the funds’ income was closer to generating sufficient income to cover the distribution payments than it actually was.

Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, added, “Whistleblower protections are a cornerstone of the SEC’s whistleblower program.  The charges filed today reinforce the Commission’s commitment to protecting whistleblowers from retaliation and attempts to stifle the free flow of information to the Commission about possible securities law violations.” If you wish to discuss any securities related question, please contact David A. Weintraub, P.A., 7805 SW 6th Court, Plantation, FL  33324.  By phone: 954.693.7577 or 800.718.1422.