Articles Posted in Investigations

Jeffrey Schwebach Independant Financial Group broker Woodbridge Mortgage Fund investigation

The securities attorneys at The Law Office of David Liebrader have opened an investigation into the securities related conduct of Jeffrey Schwebach a registered representative formerly affiliated with Independant Financial Group in Dell Rapids, South Dakota.

The pending investigation concerns investments made by clients into the Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Fund, unregistered securities sold by Jeffrey Schwebach to his clients.

Frank Dietrich Quest Capital broker Woodbridge Mortgage Fund investigation

The securities attorneys at The Law Office of David Liebrader have opened an investigation into the securities related conduct of Frank Dietrich a registered representative formerly affiliated with Quest Capital Strategies in Springfield, Virginia.

The pending customer dispute that gives rise to this investigation concerns an investment in Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Fund 4, an unregistered security sold by Frank Dietrich to the Claimant, an elderly retiree.

Future Income Payments information for investors

In the past several years multiple state finance and securities regulators have filed enforcement actions against Henderson, Nevada based Future Income Payments LLC to stop them from targeting pensioners – many of them military veterans- with a pitch to “cash out” their pensions and receive a lump sum payment.  Some of these pension advance transactions are structured like loans, charging above market rate interest rates.  The decision to sell the rights to a pension at a discount is fraught with perils, and could be one of the worst mistakes a retiree ever makes.

On the other side of the Future Income Payments transaction are investors who were contacted by Registered Investment Advisors or brokers looking for investors to “fund” the “loans” to the Pension recipients.  Investing in these transactions is full of risks, including the lack of transparency, high commissions and fees, and an inability to collect in the event of default.

Sheaff Brock Put Option Income Strategy Caused Losses

The securities attorneys at The Law Office of David Liebrader have opened an investigation into the securities related conduct of Sheaff Brock a registered investment advisor that offered a put option income strategy that it described as a conservative way to earn income.

Sheaff Brock described the program as a conservative “income generator”, which belied the actual risks associated with the strategy that targeted stocks with increased volatility.  Sheaff Brock represented that the strategy would stack small monthly gains from its proprietary strategy, which would amount to a six percent annual return, without incurring substantial risk.

Peter Lewis Morgan Stanley broker TSLA option trading investigation

The securities attorneys at The Law Office of David Liebrader have opened an investigation into the securities related conduct of Peter Lewis a registered representative affiliated with the Morgan Stanley office in Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The pending customer dispute that gives rise to this investigation concerns a number of high risk option trades in TSLA Motors that Peter Lewis made for a customer while at Morgan Stanley in the Fall of 2016.  TSLA is a growth stock that has enjoyed significant price appreciation over the past several years.  The pending customer complaint describes an environment where Mr. Lewis was particularly negative on TSLA Motors, and made sizeable “bearish” options transactions in the customer’s account.  These trades resulted in significant losses.

The Woodbridge Group of Companies filed for bankruptcy in December, 2017 after the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation against them for, among other things, selling unregistered securities.  As a result of these two proceedings, Woodbridge Group’s assets have been frozen, and investors face a long delay before they begin receiving their investment principal back.

In the meantime, investors should consider their options; If the SEC and multiple state securities regulators are correct, that the Woodbridge Group sold unregistered securities through misrepresentations, then investors may have a remedy they can pursue while the bankruptcy proceedings unfold in Delaware.

Not only does Woodbridge Group and its “control persons” (including Robert Shapiro) have liability for selling unregistered securities, but so does anyone who materially aided in the transactions, such as the salespeople, and possibly, the company that employed the salespeople.  All states have securities laws that prohibit the sale of unregistered securities, and investors should look to their state’s securities laws to pursue claims and recover funds lost in their Woodbridge Group transactions.