New York Securities Fraud Lawyers Blog

Malecki Law Announces Investigation of 1861 Capital Management

November 2, 2011 | Nick Curley

Malecki Law takes a proactive and informed approach to the financial news of today: actively engaging in fact-finding analysis on prospective cases from around the world. Our thorough knowledge of securities law’s history and fine points makes us ideal consultants for investors who have suffered losses due to misadvice from their broker or other financial counsel. Information on a selection of funds and companies currently under investigation by Malecki Law can be found below. Our pursuit of excellence is constant, but our opportunities to make lasting positive change to the securities industry begin and end with determined clients who seek justice.

Malecki Law is currently investigating the potential for recovery of losses from 1861 Capital municipal bond arbitrage funds sold by brokerage firm UBS. 1861 Capital Management is an investment firm based in New York, NY. It has been alleged that 1861 Capital Discovery Domestic Fund, LP was marketed and sold by UBS and other broker dealers as a sound and secure addition to a portfolio of municipal bonds. It may be more accurate to say, however, that 1861 would be better described as a leveraged municipal arbitrage fund.

In marketing such funds to investors, it has been alleged that UBS and their peers sought investors who were not only wealthy, but also cautious: those avoiding risk, making slow-but-steady investments, who would be drawn to the tax free municipal bonds to which the leveraged fund was coupled.

Malecki Law Announces Investigation of Reverse Convertible Notes

November 2, 2011 | Nick Curley

Malecki Law takes a proactive and informed approach to the financial news of today: actively engaging in fact-finding analysis on prospective cases from around the world. Our thorough knowledge of securities law’s history and fine points makes us ideal consultants for investors who have suffered losses due to misadvice from their broker or other financial counsel. Information on a selection of funds and companies currently under investigation by Malecki Law can be found below. Our pursuit of excellence is constant, but our opportunities to make lasting positive change to the securities industry begin and end with determined clients who seek justice.

Malecki Law is currently investigating the potential for recovery of losses from reverse convertible securities. Reverse convertible notes can be defined as complex, short-term bonds. At the end of one year, the owner receives either a 100% return on their investment or a predetermined amount of stock should the value of the note drop by a set figure (typically 70-80%). Their high-interest rates (recently set at as much as 13%) make them an alluring prospect for quick and significant gains.

Such notes are widely discussed in the finance industry today, both because of their popularity ($6.76 billion worth of reverse convertibles were sold in the U.S. in 2010) and because of growing concerns that the industry is selling such notes to unsuitable investors, and failing to supervise investments properly once funds have been transferred. RCNs have thus received increased regulatory attention from FINRA and other regulators.

Malecki Law Announces Investigation of Desert Capital REIT

November 2, 2011 | Nick Curley

Malecki Law takes a proactive and informed approach to the financial news of today: actively engaging in fact-finding analysis on prospective cases from around the world. Our thorough knowledge of securities law’s history and fine points makes us ideal consultants for investors who have suffered losses due to misadvice from their broker or other financial counsel. Information on a selection of funds and companies currently under investigation by Malecki Law can be found below. Our pursuit of excellence is constant, but our opportunities to make lasting positive change to the securities industry begin and end with determined clients who seek justice.

Malecki Law is currently investigating the potential for recovery of losses in Desert Capital REIT, a Henderson, Nevada based real estate investor, and its co-owned brokerage firm CM Securities.

Desert Capital is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that is believed to have been financing short-term high interest mortgage loans. These types of loans and any dividends are believed to have been paid to investors through real estate transactions, and are today generally thought to be risky investments, with potential for high gains due to their interest rates, but with equal if not unwarranted potential for resolute failure, and a possible lack of accountability toward investors.

FINRA Fines Merrill Lynch $1 Million for Supervisory Failures that Permitted a Registered Representative to Operate a Ponzi Scheme

November 2, 2011 | Malecki Law Team

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA“), issued a news release on October 4, 2011 announcing that it had fined the broker-dealer Merrill Lynch for failing to have a supervisory system in place that would properly monitor employee accounts. FINRA stated that Bruce Hammonds, who at the time was a registered representative of Merrill Lynch, was permitted to open a business account but failed to supervise funds that customers deposited and Hammonds withdrew. Mr. Hammonds ended up “convincing more than 11 individuals to invest more than $1 million in a Ponzi scheme” run through the business account, FINRA disclosed.

FINRA further reported that Merrill Lynch’s “inadequate supervisory system and the firm’s reliance on employee self-reporting enabled Hammonds to facilitate his Ponzi scheme, to the detriment of investors.” Merrill Lynch’s system, one that could only be effective if an employee did not properly set their social security number as the primary number associated with the account was found by FINRA to properly capture the account, which allowed Mr. Hammonds to perpetuate his scheme.

Firms’ failures to properly supervise their registered representatives is something Malecki Law takes very seriously, and we have launched investigations into several such alleged schemes, including one allegedly perpetrated by Carr Miller Capital, LLC and the Van Zandt Agency.

Malecki Law Announces Investigation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “Preferred Stock”

November 2, 2011 | Nick Curley

Malecki Law takes a proactive and informed approach to the financial news of today: actively engaging in fact-finding analysis on prospective cases from around the world. Our thorough knowledge of securities law’s history and fine points makes us ideal consultants for investors who have suffered losses due to misadvice from their broker or other financial counsel. Information on a selection of funds and companies currently under investigation by Malecki Law can be found below. Our pursuit of excellence is constant, but our opportunities to make lasting positive change to the securities industry begin and end with determined clients who seek justice.

Malecki Law is currently investigating preferred stock of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as sold by an array of investment firms throughout 2007 and 2008, including but not limited to UBS, CitiGroup, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch.

Preferred stock can be defined as a hybrid of equity and debt instruments: it is prioritized over common stock when paying dividends and/or after liquidation. Preferred stock has been considered an appealing financing tool: selling such stock allows companies to defer dividends without affecting their credit or defaulting.

Malecki Law Announces Investigation of Carr Miller Capital LLC

November 2, 2011 | Nick Curley

Malecki Law takes a proactive and informed approach to the financial news of today: actively engaging in fact-finding analysis on prospective cases from around the world. Our thorough knowledge of securities law’s history and fine points makes us ideal consultants for investors who have suffered losses due to misadvice from their broker or other financial counsel. Information on a selection of funds and companies currently under investigation by Malecki Law can be found below. Our pursuit of excellence is constant, but our opportunities to make lasting positive change to the securities industry begin and end with determined clients who seek justice.

Malecki Law is currently investigating allegations against Carr Miller Capital LLC, a New Jersey investment firm, accused in a lawsuit by the state Attorney General’s office of creating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of over $40 million. Company CEO Carr Miller has since been banned from practicing within the securities industry by state legislators.

Companies who shared investments with Carr Miller have been named as defendants. Among those cited is energy company Indigo-Energy (“Indigo”), a group in which Carr Miller had previously invested. Indigo has been named in the lawsuit against Carr Miller because Carr Miller invested in the energy company, who was then deemed by the state to be unjustly enhanced by Carr Miller’s money, obtained through illegal actions taken by the firm.

Malecki Law Announces Investigation of David Lerner Associates and Apple REITS

November 2, 2011 | Nick Curley

Malecki Law takes a proactive and informed approach to the financial news of today: actively engaging in fact-finding analysis on prospective cases from around the world. Our thorough knowledge of securities law’s history and fine points makes us ideal consultants for investors who have suffered losses due to misadvice from their broker or other financial counsel. Information on a selection of funds and companies currently under investigation by Malecki Law can be found below. Our pursuit of excellence is constant, but our opportunities to make lasting positive change to the securities industry begin and end with determined clients who seek justice.

Malecki Law is investigating possible unsuitability claims against David Lerner Associates (DLA), a New York based real estate firm based in Syosset, NY. In May of 2011, FINRA regulators accused the brokerage entity of selling shares in illiquid real estate investment trusts, or REITs, to unsophisticated and elderly customers.

In addition, FINRA’s suit against the firm argues that DLA’s trusts were unsuitable for the consumer to whom the group was targeting. It is alleged that Lerner provided misleading information that failed to show that distributions far exceeded income and were financed by debt.

Malecki Law Announces Investigation of LaeRoc Income Funds, LP

November 2, 2011 | Nick Curley

Malecki Law takes a proactive and informed approach to the financial news of today: actively engaging in fact-finding analysis on prospective cases from around the world. Our thorough knowledge of securities law’s history and fine points makes us ideal consultants for investors who have suffered losses due to misadvice from their broker or other financial counsel. Information on a selection of funds and companies currently under investigation by Malecki Law can be found below. Our pursuit of excellence is constant, but our opportunities to make lasting positive change to the securities industry begin and end with determined clients who seek justice.

Malecki Law is currently investigating Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) brokerage firms who have advised customers to purchase a private placement called LaeRoc Income Funds, LP. LaeRoc is a real estate investment firm started in 1988, creating and owning property throughout the United States. Among those who sold the funds to investors are LPL Financial and Commonwealth Financial Network. We believe these investments were often marketed as modest, fixed income products.

The LaeRoc 2005-2006 Income Fund, LP is presumed to be at least $49 million in debt and presently aims to raise $12 million to $15 million, with lenders threatening foreclosure. The Fund currently owes $105 million dollars in total mortgage debt. Such an urgent pursuit of fast cash is a foreboding sign for investors. Malecki Law is researching a potential failure on the part of brokerage firms to properly disclose risk.

All in the Timing: What Judge Rakoff’s Decision Against Madoff’s Trustee Teaches Us About Managing Our Securities

October 14, 2011 | Nick Curley

In a follow up to our recent critique of dividing defrauded consumers into “net winners” and “net losers” comes a decision from U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who has dismissed Bernie Madoff trustee Irving Picard’s claims filed to regain nearly $1 billion from Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, the owners of baseball’s New York Mets. The decision may potentially limit Picard’s future chances of recouping investors’ initial investments with Madoff, in what analysts have dubbed “clawback suits” filed by the trustee against the defrauded.

The judge’s decision illustrates a difference between U.S. bankruptcy law and securities law regarding when investors should return money previously received from their broker. A thorough, easy-to-read explanation of fraud can be found on our home site. For New York law, that period spans up to six years prior to a broker’s bankruptcy, while Federal law caps that limit at only two years. What Picard will be able to recoup depends greatly upon whether he will continue to be held to Federal standards. Several district court judges have in recent months sided with Madoff investors’ requests to move cases out of bankruptcy court, a setting that typically favors the trustee.

What we can all learn from these rulings is that where and when an investment is made – as well as where and when any necessary litigation takes place – can be just as important as the venture you’ve chosen to pursue. For one, it’s notable that our national standard for “clawback” measures is more favorable than that of New York, a state housing Wall Street and an immense amount of high stakes real estate, as well as many entertainment and banking endeavors. Clearly, it pays for investors to be informed about their state’s “clawback” legislature: for those of us engaging the market longterm, timing is everything, and how recently you’ve been the victim of fraud sets crucial perimeters.

Casting a Wider Net: Deconstructing the Supposed “Winners” and “Losers” of Investment Fraud

September 16, 2011 | Nick Curley

There’s an old pun making a comeback among New York securities lawyers: “Don’t count your check-ins before they’re cashed.” The divide between so called “net winners” and “net losers” is a hot topic, particularly with regard to the defrauded victims of vilified Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff. A thorough explanation of affinity fraud can be found in our Investors section, with a set of Ponzi scheme red flags available here from Investor.gov.

In August, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Madoff trustee Irving Picard’s decision to award upfront recovery payments of as much as $500,000 solely to the scheme’s “net losers”: investors whose withdrawals from Madoff’s fund did not match their initial investment. “Net winners” – those who withdrew more than their initial entry into the fund – seek the same recovery, but have been denied by Picard in a motion that has now held up in court.

Branding either party winners or losers is problematic, and discredits the fact that all of these investors suffered and were betrayed by the same scheme. Moreover, a precedent was set favoring “net winner” restitution in the case of Randall v. Loftsgaarden 478 U.S. 647 (1986), in which the Supreme Court ruled that “[t]his deterrent purpose is ill-served by a too rigid insistence on limiting plaintiffs to recovery of their ‘net economic loss'”. A 2001 ruling in California Ironworkers Field Pension Trust v. Loomis Sayles, 259 F.3d 1036, (9th Cir. 2001) binds respondents to an “Anti-Netting Rule”, concluding that gains in one investment do not offset losses in another. Why then might Picard’s whims prove to be, as one Wall Street Journal headline wonders, “the Final Word on This Issue?“