Securities Fraud

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A successful asset search often requires gathering financial intelligence.  One financial investigator sought financial intelligence by doing “trash pulls”.  This investigator did trash pulls at an attorney’s home to elicit intelligence about the attorney’s client.  During one of these trash pulls, an envelope bearing the name of a climate-controlled art storage facility was discovered.  This…

This "Asset Search News Roundup" highlights an updated tax protocol, a $40 million dollar asset recovery and the sentencing of New York securities fraudster Matthew D. Weitzman:

  1. On May 27, 2010 the Organisation For Economic Co-Operation And Development announced that the United States and ten other countries agreed to an updated tax protocol which provides

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An alleged Guatemalan drug lord and Peter Madoff are the subjects of the May 26th “Asset Search News Roundup”:

“Suing Peter Madoff For Bernard Madoff’s Securities Fraud” described plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion pending against Peter Madoff in The Lautenberg Foundation v. Madoff, 09-Civ-00816.  Pages 8-10 of a May 20th reply memorandum shows…

My article "Wachovia Bank & Its Bank Secrecy Act Issues" said that Ponzi scheme victims do not possess a cognizable claim against financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act.  Concurring and quoting me was Moneylaundering.com’s "Florida Court Unlikely to Find Wachovia, Mastercard Civilly Liable for Missing Ponzi Scheme":

 

 (Click On…

Holocaust-era assets and securities fraudster Trevor Cook are the focus of this week’s "Asset Search News Roundup":

  1. An April 21, 2010 Bloomberg.com article explained that Berlin’s Free University went live with its website about Holocaust-era assets / "degenerate" art confiscated by the Nazis.  "During A War Everybody Loots A Little Bit", earlier mentioned

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U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s family foundation is one of three plaintiffs in The Lautenberg Foundation v. Madoff, 09-Civ-00816.  The Lautenberg Plaintiffs had reportedly invested approximately $8.9 million in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.  They seek to recover losses through their February 24, 2009 complaint against Bernard Madoff’s younger brother, Peter.  Although part of the complaint was dismissed by the Court’s September 9, 2009 Order and Opinion, four causes of action remain against Peter Madoff.   

These remaining causes of action are for Peter Madoff’s alleged: breach of a fiduciary duty; aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty; negligence; and a supposed violation of Section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Via their March 12, 2010 notice of motion, memorandum of law, statement of facts, etc., the Plaintiff’s moved under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 for summary judgment on their Securities Exchange Act cause of action.  In the above-mentioned statement of facts, Plaintiffs asserted they sustained nearly $6.5 million in actual losses.

According to the Plaintiffs, a "Uniform Application For Investment Adviser Registration" filed with the SEC shows that both Peter and Bernard Madoff had been "control persons" at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC ("BMIS").  As the highlighted excerpt from page twenty of this registration form could indicate, Peter Madoff might have been such a "control person" since 1969:

(Click On The Image To Read The Entire Registration Form)

Continue Reading Suing Peter Madoff For Bernard Madoff’s Securities Fraud

My most recent “Asset Search News Roundup” reported about the April 13, 2010 plea agreement executed by securities fraudster and Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook.  In this plea deal, Mr. Cook pleaded guilty to tax and mail fraud charges, agreed to make restitution and is supposed to fully disclose his assets to prosecutors.

Mr. Cook must also cooperate with Receiver R.J. Zayed, who seeks to recover Receivership assets for the benefit of Mr. Cook’s Ponzi scheme victims.  Before the plea agreement happened, the Receiver made his March 29th statement.  It expressed “shared concern & frustration” over the asset recovery effort launched against Mr. Cook.  In this statement, the Receiver acknowledged that his efforts targeting Mr. Cook, have been criticized:

 (Click On The Following Image To Read The Complete Statement)

Continue Reading Interdicting A Ponzi Schemer’s Assets

The guilty plea of Minneapolis money manager Trevor Cook and the Court’s dismissal of a Wisconsin lawsuit against Associated Bank, are mentioned by today’s "Asset Search News Roundup":

* At a plea hearing that took 33 minutes yesterday, Trevor Cook pleaded guilty to counts one and two of his of his criminal information.  At…

Wachovia, one of the world’s largest international banks, is still defending itself against the Florida civil complaint described at my post "Lawsuit Claims Wachovia Bank Facilitated Alleged Ponzi Scheme".  The complaint essentially claims that Wachovia’s anti-money laundering program under the Bank Secrecy Act had failed to detect money laundering.  It was brought by the apparent victims of a Ponzi-like securities fraud.

Although the complaint could conceivably be the subject of a trial, the Court might soon dismiss at least part of it.  This might happen since there is no private right of action under the Bank Secrecy Act for alleged anti-money laundering program violations.  Only governmental authorities can seek monetary damages for Bank Secrecy Act violations, as suggested by pages 77-78 of the August 26, 2009 opinion in Armstrong v. American Pallet Leasing, Inc.: 

 

(CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO READ THE OPINION) Continue Reading Wachovia Bank & Its Bank Secrecy Act Issues

The March 14, 2010 “Asset Search News Roundup” first highlights ex-Detroit councilwoman Monica Conyers and then mentions Madoff Trustee Irving Picard:

*As The Wall Street Journal described at “House Judiciary Chairman’s Wife Sentenced to Prison“and “Lawmaker’s Wife Sentenced to Jail“, ex-councilwoman Monica Conyers was sentenced to 37 months of prison for…