Category: Fraud

pump and dump scheme
March 28, 2018 BY LeapRate Staff

Wedbush Securities hit with SEC charges for employee’s long-running pump-and-dump fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against Wedbush Securities Inc. for failing to supervise employee Timary Delorme after the broker-dealer ignored numerous red flags indicating that Delorme was involved in a long-running pump-and-dump scheme targeting retail investors. Delorme agreed to settle fraud charges stemming from the same scheme. This is the second SEC…

Read more
Shtern Group warning
March 12, 2018 BY LeapRate Staff

MFSA issues warning against fake Malta Forex broker Shtern Group

Malta financial regulator the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has issued a warning, stating that it has become aware of an entity operating under the name of Shtern Group which is known to have an internet presence at shterngroup.com. Although this entity purports to operate from an address in Malta, the MFSA does not believe…

Read more
sec fraud
March 05, 2018 BY LeapRate Staff

Craigslist ad scammer Lon Friedrichsen (aka Kummer aka Richardson) charged with solicitation fraud

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced that it has filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charging Lon Olen Friedrichsen of Alton, Iowa, with fraud and failing to register with the CFTC as a Commodity Trading Advisor, as required. Friedrichsen, as alleged, also solicited…

Read more
ICO fraud
March 05, 2018 BY LeapRate Staff

$50 million securities fraud charges lead to insolvency for UK broker Beaufort Securities

UK FCA financial regulator the FCA has announced that following an urgent application by it, the High Court has appointed Russell Downs, Douglas Nigel Rackham and Dan Yoram Schwarzmann of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as joint administrators of Beaufort Securities Limited, and joint special administrators of Beaufort Asset Clearing Services Limited. The FCA took this action following an assessment…

Read more
nfa office
March 05, 2018 BY LeapRate Staff

Introducing broker Fortune Trading Group and owner Jonathan Schuler banned for pumping commissions

National Futures Association (NFA), the self-regulatory organization for the U.S. derivatives industry, has announced that it has permanently barred Chicago, Illinois guaranteed introducing broker (GIB) Fortune Trading Group, Inc. (FTG) from membership and from acting as a principal of an NFA Member. The NFA also barred FTG's sole principal and an associated person Jonathan Schuler from membership and from…

Read more
ICO fraud
February 27, 2018 BY LeapRate Staff

MFSA warns against VSB Malta, claiming a fraudulent license

The Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) has issued a warning, stating that it has become aware of an entity calling itself “VSB Malta” and utilizing the website vsbmalta.com/secure/, which fraudulently claims to be regulated and licensed by the “Malta Financial Services Commission” to provide Banking, General Insurance, Investment and Fund Services Business. The MFSA would…

Read more
ICO fraud
February 05, 2018 BY Valentina Kirilova

SEC halts ongoing fraud by purported hedge fund manager

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) informed that it has charged a purported hedge fund manager in New York City with a brazen offering and investment adviser fraud thereby putting an end to an ongoing scheme. The SEC alleges that, since at least 2014, Nicholas Joseph Genovese and his hedge fund Willow Creek Investments LP…

Read more
ICO fraud
January 29, 2018 BY LeapRate Staff

Spoofing and Commodities Fraud charges lead to $46 million in fines for Deutsche Bank, HSBC and UBS

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced, in conjunction with the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Investigative Division, criminal and civil enforcement actions against three banks and six individuals involved in commodities fraud and spoofing schemes. What is spoofing? Spoofing is the practice of bidding or offering with the intent to…

Read more