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Ponzi Schemes

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Securities Fraud

Securities watchdog bans second broker in alleged Veros Ponzi scheme

By: Jared Council of Indianapolis Business Journal Financial industry regulators have permanently barred a local broker alleged to have participated in a Ponzi scheme. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Tobin Joseph Senefeld of Indianapolis has been disbarred from associating with any FINRA member institution, according to its monthly disciplinary report released last week. The sanction is related to a 2015 civil suit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission that claimed Senefeld and two others operated a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme involving farm loans. According to FINRA, Senefeld was banned because he refused to provide on-the-record testimony about the Ponzi scheme allegations. Senefeld,...

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New Albany, Indiana Man Arrested on Multiple Counts of Securities Fraud and Theft

By Lindsey Holmes of tristatehomepage.com A New Albany man is in jail Thursday night after a 13-month investigation revealed he defrauded nearly $535,000 from numerous Dubois County Residents. In October 2015, a complaint was filed with the Indiana Secretary of State, Securities Division after a woman became concerned about the financial investments made on behalf of her mother. A criminal investigation was initiated by the Indiana State Police into the transactions by the woman’s financial advisor, 58 year old Stephen Recker, formerly of Jasper and currently of New Albany. Through the course of the investigation and as a result of the initial complaint, investigators...

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U.S. Takes Down Call-Center Financial Scam

Officials allege people impersonating IRS, immigration officials extracted more than $250 million from victims By Miriam Jordan of The Wall Street Journal Federal authorities said Thursday they had dismantled a massive call-center scheme perpetrated by individuals in the U.S. and India who bilked thousands of Americans out of hundreds of millions of dollars by posing as Internal Revenue Service and Department of Homeland Security officials. An 81-page indictment names 56 people in the U.S. and India and five call centers in Ahmedabad, India, allegedly involved in the fraud. They were charged in a Texas federal district court in Houston with crimes including impersonation...

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SEC sets record in enforcement actions against investment advisers

Uptick in adviser crackdown attributed to better data analytics and agency's new unit focused on asset management By Mark Schoeff Jr. of InvestmentNews.com The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a record number of enforcement cases against investment advisers and investment companies over the last year, the agency announced Tuesday. The SEC pursued 160 cases against advisers and firms, including 98 that were standalone — as opposed to follow-up actions or cases based on delinquent regulatory filings. Both numbers are records, the SEC said. The enforcement statistics for fiscal 2016 include the period from Oct. 1, 2015, through Sept. 30. The SEC also filed a record number of...

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Charlestown, Indiana man pleads guilty in securities fraud case

Richard Collins ordered to pay $250,000, sentenced to prison By Elizabeth Depompei of newsandtribune.com A Charlestown man was ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution after pleading guilty in a securities fraud case Monday. Richard Collins was president of R.C. Vision Quest in Jeffersonville, where he reportedly sold unregistered securities without being licensed to do so, a violation of the Indiana Uniform Securities Act. According to a July news release from the Indiana Secretary of State, Collins made cold calls to investors in North Carolina and Virginia and promised them high returns for investing. Collins reportedly advertised his business as being religion-based and all of...

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Indiana awards whistleblower $95K with more whistleblowers likely in financial advice sector

Earlier this month, Indiana announced its first whistleblower award, giving $95,000 to a former JP Morgan official who helped the state's regulators make an advice-related case against the firm that resulted in a $950,000 settlement. The informant showed how the firm failed to make proper disclosures to clients about proprietary funds in discretionary accounts. The whistleblower exposed JP Morgan for putting its interests before its clients. Federal and state securities regulators are relying more on firm insiders to uncover wrongdoing. As a result, the investment advice sector may find itself more vulnerable to whistleblowing. The Securities and Exchange Commission has been awarding...

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Day Traders Think They Can Win in Online Ponzi Schemes

Software makers and speculators help to keep $47 million a year flowing through a world of fraudulent investment schemes. By Eduardo Thomson and Janan Hanna of Bloomberg.com It’s the financial equivalent of a game of chicken: Put money into a likely Ponzi scheme, get paid for a while, and then try to get out before the collapse. That’s how some people seem to be using online “high-yield investment programs,” or HYIPs. The sites promise ludicrous returns—the equivalent of 1,000 percent or more annually—based on vague investment plans involving, say, bitcoin or currency trading. In reality, many are just passing money from new investors...

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ADM Accused in Trial of Directing Grain Sales Ponzi Scheme

By Bloomberg News A Missouri grain dealer who stole tens of millions of dollars from farmers may turn out to be their best ally as they try to recoup losses from corn giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. ADM began trial Tuesday in St. Louis with farmers claiming the woman couldn’t have ripped them off without help from the world’s biggest corn processor. From behind bars, where she is serving a nine-years sentence, the dealer’s testimony is set to bolster the farmers’ effort to get back more than just the mere fraction of their losses they’ve recovered from her. An unfavorable verdict for ADM could taint...

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Attorney: Locals Invested $750K in Reported Scam

More than 20 shareholders from Cass, Pulaski spark local lawyer’s investigation PharosTribune.com By Mitchell Kirk More than 20 people from Cass and Pulaski counties contributed about $750,000 to a former Logansport man facing federal charges of defrauding investors, according to a local attorney. Larry Westby, 64, Vanderbilt, Michigan, faces charges of mail fraud, money laundering and fraud in the offer and sale of securities. The FBI, IRS and Indiana Secretary of State's office accuse the former Logansport resident of scamming investors out of more than $985,000. Westby started a company called LMW Inc. he based in Indianapolis with the reported objective of selling respiratory...

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Former Eagle player defrauds football coaches, others out of $6 million

SEC complaint alleges Merrill Robertson Jr. and partner promised 20% and took client funds InvestmentNews.com By Liz Skinner Former Philadelphia Eagle Merrill Robertson Jr. defrauded his former coaches and other investors out of about $6 million, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in a complaint filed on Wednesday. Mr. Robertson, Sherman Vaughn Jr., and the company they owned together called Cavalier Union Investments, raised more than $10 million from investors who were told their money would go towards diversified holdings, the complaint filed in federal court in Richmond, Va., said. However, nearly $6 million was used to pay for personal expenses of Mr. Robertson and...

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