Articles Posted in Firm Investigations

Notice to GPB Capital Investors:  Iorio Altamirano LLP Continues to Investigate The Sale of GPB Capital Private Placement Offerings to Retail Investors

A federal grand jury found GPB Capital Holdings co-founders David Gentile and Jeffry Schneider guilty of fraud. The charges are related to their management of the company, which has been described as a “Ponzi-like scheme.” In February 2021, the SEC also charged GPB Capital, Ascendant Capital, and Ascendant Alternative Strategies with running a Ponzi-like scheme that raised roughly $1.7 billion from securities issued by GPB Capital. According to authorities, the firm raised more than $1.7 billion from over 17,000 investors, many of whom were retirees.

The jury found David Gentile guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, and wire fraud. Jeffrey Schneider was found guilty of securities fraud and wire fraud.

What You Need to Know:

  • On July 31, 2024, the SEC announced that it had reached an agreement with Western International Securities and five of its registered representatives to settle an ongoing lawsuit arising out of the sale of high-risk and speculative L Bonds issued by the now-bankrupt GWG Holdings, Inc.
  • On July 28, 2024, the SEC fined broker-dealer LifeMark Securities Corp. for failing to comply with Regulation Best Interest connected with recommending GWG L Bonds to retail customers between July 2020 and January 2022 without exercising reasonable diligence, care, and skill to understand the potential risks, rewards, and costs associated with the recommendations.

In recent court filings, Emerson Equity LLC has disclosed that it has paid over $2.1 million in attorney fees and arbitration costs through January 1, 2024, to defend itself from more than 60 customer complaints related to its sale of GWG L Bonds. In addition, according to public disclosure reports for its brokers, Emerson Equity LLC has paid over $4.2 million in settlements in 2023 and the first few days of 2024.

The customer complaints are primarily FINRA securities arbitration complaints that were brought by GWG L Bond investors who were sold speculative, high-risk, illiquid, high-commission, and unrated GWG L Bonds by the firm’s brokers, including Tony Barouti. More than half of Emerson Equity’s GWG L Bond-related customer disputes arise out of recommendations made by Mr. Barouti.

Although Emerson Equity’s legal fees and settlements have surpassed $6 million, the cost represents less than one-third of the $20.1 million that the firm received from GWG Holdings Inc. for brokerage services from June 2018 through June 2022.

Iorio Altamirano LLP and its experienced GWG Holdings L Bonds attorneys, representing retail investors nationwide, continue to investigate and file claims against Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc. for its sale of speculative, high-risk, illiquid, high-commission, and unrated GWG L Bonds to retail investors.

The law firm’s investigation is ongoing after three separate arbitration panels awarded investors damages in connection with the sale of L Bonds by their financial advisors and firms.

In addition to these arbitration awards, brokerage firms have settled cases with investors who have filed arbitration claims. According to our law firm’s review of public disclosure reports of individual brokers, Ausdal Financial Partners and/or its brokers have been the subject of at least 26 customer disputes connected with its sale of GWG L Bonds to retail investors. Of the 26 disclosed disputes, 12 are still pending, and 14 have been settled. The cases that have been settled have recovered an average of approximately 41% of the alleged damages, with a range of recoveries primarily between 30 and 70%. Some of these matters involved a variety of securities in addition to GWG L Bonds.

On February 15, 2024, the GWG Wind Down Trust filed a status report with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas for the quarter ending December 31, 2023. Although the status report did not include an updated financial statement, there are several key takeaways:

  • The GWG Wind Down Trust has sold two of its three tangible assets for a total of approximately $10.58 million.
  • The sale of its life insurance policy portfolio generated $10 million in cash.

Iorio Altamirano LLP and its experienced GWG Holdings L Bonds attorneys continue to investigate and file claims against Centaurus Financial for its sale of risky and speculative GWG L Bonds to mom-and-pop investors.

The law firm’s investigation is ongoing after two separate FINRA arbitration panels awarded investors damages in connection with the sale of L Bonds by their brokers and brokerage firms. In the first case, an arbitration panel in Los Angeles, California, held two brokers liable for their negligence in selling GWG L Bonds to an investor and awarded over $1 million in damages. In the second case, a FINRA arbitration panel in Boston, Massachusetts, awarded an investor $280,000 in damages, finding that brokerage firm Ages Financial Services, LTD was liable for not properly informing the investor about the risks of GWG L Bonds.

Iorio Altamirano LLP represents dozens of GWG L Bond investors across the country and encourages investors who are taking a “wait and see approach” to act now.   As the GWG Wind Trustee begins to liquidate GWG’s assets, it is becoming more evident that the GWG L Bonds, now the New Series A1 WDT Interests, are nearly worthless.

An elderly couple in their upper 80s filed a FINRA arbitration claim against David Lerner Associates, Inc. (“David Lerner Associates”) to recover losses and damages of up to $1 million. The couple, represented by securities arbitration law firm Iorio Altamirano LLP, alleges that David Lerner Associates recommended an unsuitable investment strategy to invest and concentrate a significant portion of their retirement savings and net worth into risky and high-commission energy-sector securities that were proprietary to David Lerner Associates, Inc.: (1) Energy 11, L.P. (“Energy 11”); (2) Energy Resources 12, L.P. (“Energy 12”); and the Spirit of America  Energy Fund (“SOAEX”).

The arbitration claim also alleges that David Lerner Associates and its broker, Robert Rasbach, misrepresented and omitted material information about the investment strategy and the energy investments, including:

  • That investing in Energy 11 and Energy 12 involved a “high degree of risk” and was only appropriate for investors willing and able to assume the risk of a “speculative, illiquid, and long-term investment.”

On August 1, 2023, GWG Holdings, Inc.’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan (the “Plan”) went into effect.

As part of the Plan, GWG will be liquidated, and two liquidating trusts have been created: (i) the Wind Down Trust and (ii) the Litigation Trust.

As a result of the Plan going into effect, all securities issued by GWG, including GWG L Bonds, were canceled. L Bondholders received “New Series A1 WDT Interests” in the Wind Down Trusts.

On Tuesday, June 6, 2023, Jeffrey Lash, a former executive of GPB Capital Holdings, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal court in Brooklyn, NY.

In 2021, a federal grand jury brought criminal charges against Lash, David Gentile (founder and owner of GPB Capital), and a third individual, Jeffry Schneider. The charges are related to their management of the company, which has been described as a “Ponzi-like scheme.” In February 2021, the SEC also charged GPB Capital, Ascendant Capital, and Ascendant Alternative Strategies with running a Ponzi-like scheme that raised roughly $1.7 billion from over 17,000 investors, many of whom were retirees.

The criminal complaint alleged that Mr. Gentile, Mr. Lash, and Mr. Schneider used new money invested by retail investors to cover the promised 8% returns to prior investors, yet failed to disclose the source of the distributions to investors.

In a recent regulatory case, on May 5, 2023, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Office of Hearing Officers imposed sanctions on Centaurus Financial, Inc. and its financial advisor Donnie Ingram for engaging in unsuitable and unethical practices, as well as supervisory failures. Centaurus Financial, Inc. was censured and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and $388,962 in restitution to harmed customers. Donnie Ingram was suspended from association with any FINRA member firm in any capacity for six months, fined $15,000, and ordered to pay $388,962 in restitution to harmed customers. The sanctions were the result of Ingram’s unsuitable recommendations to customers to purchase Unit Investment Trusts (UITs), Bluerock Residential Growth REIT Inc. (BRG), and MacKenzie Realty Capital, Inc. (MAC) at higher costs when there were lower cost options available.

Earlier this year, in February 2023, Centaurus Financial also agreed to pay a $750,000 civil penalty after the SEC charged the firm in connection with the unsuitable recommendation of variable interest rate structured products to retail customers. The SEC’s order found that Centaurus failed to implement, and its branch manager failed to follow, Centaurus’ customer-specific suitability procedures and that Centaurus violated the broker-dealer books and records provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC’s order found that Centaurus violated Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and Section 17(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Rules 17a-4(e)(5), 17a-4(f)(2), and 17a-3(a)(17)(i)(B)(3) thereunder. The SEC concluded that Centaurus failed reasonably to supervise the firm’s brokers.

Financial institutions like Centaurus Financial, Inc. must properly supervise financial advisors and customer accounts. Brokerage firms must establish and maintain a reasonably designed system to oversee account activity, such as recommendations to purchase alternative investments, such as GWG L Bonds, UITs, and REITS, to ensure compliance with securities laws and industry regulations.  When a brokerage firm fails to supervise its financial advisors or the investment account activity sufficiently, it may be liable for investment losses sustained by customers.

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