Investment fraud

Beware of Financial Fraud During Troubled Times–Ed Martin, Sage Investigations, LLC

March 26, 2020 | Bryan Forman

From Bryan Forman, Forman Law Firm, P. C.–In an effort to provide our readers with unique perspective of other professionals in the world of investments and securities regulation, arbitration, and litigation, I will occasionally invite friends, colleagues, and other experts to publish a blog piece from their unique perspective. If you like what they have to say, please say so and forward! Thanks for reading.

In this Guest Blog Piece, we hear from Edmond (Ed) Martin of Sage Investigations, LLC in Austin, Texas. Ed brings some unique experience and perspective to “Ponzi Schemes” a topic that has been around for a while and one on which we have often posted (see, “Ponzi Schemes Recommended By Stockbroker—How Can Firms Miss Them”), but one that is likely to experience a resurgence at the end of the recent bull market and the recession possibly brought on as with the Coronavirus Correction as more and more schemes are revealed as the proverbial house-of-cards comes tumbling down. Ed is a Certified Fraud Investigator, and gained substantial experience working as a Special Agent for the U. S. Treasury and Internal Revenue Service, Department of Justice, Texas State Securities Board, and other government agency types that you never really want to hear from unannounced–you would always rather call them as a victim of a scam. Ed has investigated all sorts of financial fraud, with a particular emphasis on Ponzi Schemes, and has told his stories on a number of television programs. See his CV here. We invite him here to share his perspective on two of the more notorious Ponzi schemes—Madoff and Russell Erxleben, and to highlight a few of the early warning signs for investors.

Beware of Financial Fraud During Troubled Times.

Texas Securities Act– The Statutory Basis for a $2.8 Million Arbitration Award On a $1.6 Million Investment.

March 11, 2020 | Bryan Forman

Austin, Texas Investor Wins $ 2.8 Million in Arbitration on Claims Under The Texas Securities Act

Investors in Private Offerings in Texas Have Substantial Tools At Their Disposal Through the Texas Securities Act (TSA).

In February of 2018, we posted a piece about how the Texas Securities Act was a “Powerful Tool For Victims of Oil and Gas Fraud” and we discussed how the TSA might apply to oil and gas investments, as we were seeing a significant number of investors’ inquiries about their investments in private oil and gas deals. As we noted, the TSA considers “any interest in or under an oil, gas or mining lease” to be a security. It is true that the TSA is a powerful tool for oil and gas investors that have been lied to about a deal, but the TSA is not limited to just oil and gas deals, but is applicable to the offer or sale of any security or investment contract. In this post, we highlight one of the firm’s recent awards where our client received all of his investment back, plus interest, costs, and a substantial award for his attorneys’ fees. The investment was not in an oil and gas deal, but was a somewhat typical investment in a start-up venture.

Investing On Margin–Will Your Chickens Come Home to Roost?

January 21, 2018 | Bryan Forman

While we sometimes hear our politicians scream about someone’s “chickens coming home to roost,” the origin really deals with curses and offensive words and actions that may come back to haunt you. The old adage suggests your curses and offensive conduct are like young chickens, and will eventually come home to roost–meaning your bad conduct will eventually rebound to cause you harm. Perhaps investing on margin in a bull market is an apt analogy.

Indeed, all of our accounts should be showing substantial gains in the last 12 months, as the Trump bull market continues to run. Compared to numbers one year ago, margin investing is on the rise, with more and more accounts showing increasing margin debit balances. At the end of November 2017, FINRA reported there was more than $627 Billion in margin debit balances in retail customer accounts, compared to $553 Billion at the beginning of 2017, more than a 13% increase in borrowing to invest in stocks. So is this a curse that may rebound to cause you harm? Maybe…maybe not.

Purchasing on margin carries with it significant risks, particularly in the event of a rapid market decline. Margin can, for the right situation and the experienced and sophisticated investor be a very good tool to increase returns on certain investments, particularly short term investments, but at the same time, margin can decimate an account in a declining market or when a particular investment’s value declines. When the stocks in the account decline, or even if the firm believes the overall market conditions are not favorable to margin investing, the account holder may face a margin call. The rules of FINRA and the exchanges supplement the requirements of Regulation T by placing “maintenance” margin requirements on customer accounts. Under the rules of FINRA and the exchanges, as a general matter, the customer’s equity in the account must not fall below 25 percent of the current market value of the securities in the account. Otherwise, the customer may be required to deposit more funds or securities in order to maintain the equity at the 25 percent level. The failure to do so may cause the firm to force the sale of—or liquidate—the securities in the customer’s account in order to bring the account’s equity back up to the required level. If the account holder does not have sufficient assets, they must either make a deposit of additional funds or securities, or their assets in that account, and possibly other accounts, will be sold so that the firm is not at any risk. Make no mistake about it, most margin account agreements permit the firm to sell out your investments at any time, without any prior notice to you or consent from you. Even if your broker promises you that he will call you first, such promises may not be enforceable. In the event of an acute dip in the market, your account may be sold out at the short term bottom without any prior notice.

“A Recovery Checklist For Victims of Investment Fraud”

June 26, 2017 | Bryan Forman

This week FINRA published a Recovery Checklist for Victims of Investment Fraud and at the risk of being called sensitive, it seems the Checklist seemed to omit, at least on its face, that hiring an attorney may be the most direct route to seeking any compensation that may be due from being a victim of a financial crime or a victim of investment fraud. Granted, if you click through to the embedded links, you will find another page published by FINRA titled “Legitimate Avenues for Recovering Investment Losses.” Therein you will find FINRA’s suggestion that “…You may want to hire an attorney to represent you during the arbitration or mediation proceedings to provide direction and advice.” I guess it is nice to be considered a “legitimate” avenue by FINRA, as any suggestion of illegitimacy would not sound quite as nice.

But back to the “Checklist.” FINRA provided a number of resources to report the crime, and victims of investment fraud and financial crimes should report these crimes to all appropriate agencies, as those agencies represent the only real process that can (whether they will is a different issue) bring criminal or regulatory charges against the perpetrator. However, it is in my experience rare that the authorities responsible for enforcing the criminal and regulatory statutes will recover the victim’s damages, although it certainly happens from time to time. That is not their real responsibility–they want to enforce the criminal laws and regulations and put deserving criminals behind bars or revoke licenses. Yes, recovery will sometimes be the product of criminal enforcement, but hiring someone that has no purpose other than representing the victim in seeking the appropriate recovery is wise.

I am glad FINRA acknowledges that the damage done by investment fraud not only includes the damages from financial loss, but also includes “…at least one severe emotional consequence—including stress, anxiety, insomnia, and depression.” These damages are real, and should be recoverable in arbitration, right? Well, FINRA knows that it is not easy to recover from investment fraud, and states so plainly. FINRA states, “While full financial recovery may be difficult to achieve…” and again states “It can be difficult to recover assets lost to fraud or other scenarios in which an investor has experienced a problem with an investment. But there are legitimate ways to attempt recovery. In most cases, you can do so on your own—at little or no cost.” Alas, is this a comment on the fairness/difficulty in recovering legitimate damages in its own arbitration forum? Perhaps, but don’t expect FINRA to connect these dots. But given this admitted “difficulty”, why does FINRA seemingly encourage victims of investment fraud to go it alone? FINRA is certainly aware of what can happen to the investor/claimant/victim proceeding on their own against veteran Wall Street attorneys in its FINRA arbitration forum—something akin to throwing raw meat into a crowded lions’ den comes to mind. Granted, experienced FINRA arbitrators will recognize a meritorious claim before them, but when it comes to recovering money from investment fraud, don’t go it alone!