Blog
Life Savings Frittered Away
A 90-year old nursing home resident entrusted his life savings to former New York broker Sergio Del Toro. But in the end, the elderly investor and his family saw that his investments were far too risky and discovered that more than $500,000 was long gone. Del Toro not...
A Century of Punishment
Mr. Richard Heartless…. uh, I mean… Harkless. Mr. Richard Harkless received a brutal sentence of 100 years in prison for his Ponzi scheme that caused his investors to lose $40 million. The judge was convinced that the 65-year-old southern Californian would do it...
Did Your Mother Teach You Nothing?!
It’s likely that the well-known NY socialite Brooke Astor attempted to teach her son sound financial lessons, but it clearly didn’t soak in. Not only did Anthony Marshall commit financial fraud, he robbed his own mother – to the tune of $200 million! A jury convicted...
Good Use of Prison Cells
A Lansing, Michigan area judge brimmed with confidence at Jeffrey Sadlak’s sentencing recently. Judge Joyce Draganchuk proclaimed that a prison cell is a perfect fit for Mr. Sadlak following his conviction for defrauding investors. It’s good to hear such confidence in...
Cuban Back at SEC’s Center Court
Fleecing Central sweetheart, Mark Cuban is back in the SEC’s spotlight. A case against Cuban for insider trading was dismissed. But the SEC maintains its accusation that he illegally sold shares of stock. Stay tuned for another shot by the SEC in the court of law....
UnBelievable Sham
Apparently UBS employees weren’t thinking rationally when they helped U.S. clients hide accounts from the IRS using Swiss bank accounts. And now UBS will pay the consequences as they are required to release the names of 4,450 American account holders who could be...
New York State of Money
New York politician Raymond Harding pleaded guilty to accepting $800,000 from investment companies involved with his organization’s pension fund. The money was in return for political favors. Mr. Harding could use a favor himself right about now. Check out the...
It All Started with Mortgages
Montana businessmen Keith Kovick and Robert Congdon once had a successful (and legitimate) mortgage brokerage operation. But when they ventured into the investment arena without being registered to sell securities in the state, things started to fall apart. $14...