Articles Tagged with ponzi scheme lawyer

shutterstock_93851422-300x240The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP are currently investigating claims that advisor Lester Burroughs (Burroughs) is converted customer funds among other allegations.  According to BrokerCheck records, Burroughs is formerly registered with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member firm Lincoln Investment.  In addition, Burroughs disclosed 17 customer complaints.  If you have been a victim of Burroughs’ alleged misconduct our firm may be able to assist you in recovering funds.

According to news sources, Burroughs is facing up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to misappropriating $575,000 in client assets.  Burroughs waived his right to be indicted and entered the plea in U.S. District Court of Connecticut as part of a deal in which he agreed to pay the full $575,000 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.  It was alleged that Burroughs defrauded three clients in a Ponzi scheme from about 2012 to 2019.  In addition, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced separate civil charges against Burroughs stating that he misappropriated $560,000 after telling clients he would invest their money in guaranteed interest contracts with guaranteed returns of 4% or 7%.  However, the SEC found that Burroughs instead used the money to pay his own expenses and the return funds to other clients.

Our law firm has significant experience bringing cases on behalf of defrauded victims when their advisors engage in receiving loans from clients or selling securities sales through OBAs.  The sale of unapproved investment products – is a practice known in the industry as “selling away” – a serious violation of the securities laws.  In the industry the term selling away refers to when a financial advisor solicits investments in companies, promissory notes, or other securities that are not pre-approved by the broker’s affiliated firm.  Sometimes those investments have some legitimacy but often times these types of investments can end up being Ponzi schemes or the advisor can be engaging in the conversion of funds.

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shutterstock_185913422-300x200The securities attorneys of Gana Weinstein LLP are experienced in helping investors recover investment losses due to various investment fraud schemes including Ponzi schemes, investment value manipulation, and outright theft and conversion of funds.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of investment fraud victims do not receive any recovery for a variety of reasons.  First, many victims are embarrassed and feel a sense of guilt over having been deceived and prefer not to talk about the experience.  Second, many victims believe that investor recovery is conducted by regulators and if a regulator such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) take action investors are entitled to those funds.  The truth is regulators rarely compensate victims for their losses and if they do the process can take years, in some cases around a decade, during which time investors may loss their legal rights to pursue additional avenues of recovery.

Often time the best, and in many instances the only avenue of recovery, is by hiring a private attorney to investigate and pursue your claim.  The SEC has stated on its website that “It is important to understand that not all harmed investors will be able to recover money. Investors who do recover money may receive substantially less than their losses.  In addition, even when harmed investors are able to recover money, the process for distributing the money to harmed investors may take a long time.”

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