Securities and Exchange Commission v. BNZ One Capital, LLC, et al. was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on October 28, 2021 claiming Defendants violated the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act, the Securities Exchange Act, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, as well as the registration provisions of the
Financial
New Complaint – Marfleet v. Hardin, et al.
Marfleet v. Hardin, et al. was filed in the Western District of Tennessee on October 20, 2021. The complaint alleges Defendants operated a nationwide real estate Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors by falsely promising “secured” real estate investments and above-market rates of return in exchange for capital.
Plaintiff Barry Marfleet (“Plaintiff”) is an individual investor.…
New Complaint – Lowry, et al. v. Edelman, et al.
Lowry, et al. v. Edelman, et al. was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on September 21, 2021, claiming securities fraud and various state-law causes of action based on a fraudulent scheme to induce investments in cryptocurrency and then embezzle those investments.…
New Complaint – SEC v. Woods, et al.
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Woods, Livingston Group Asset Management Company d/b/a Southport Capital, and Horizon Private Equity, III, LLC was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on August 20, 2021. The SEC alleges that Defendants defrauded investors, many of whom were elderly, with illusory promises of guaranteed…
New Nevada Law Protects Limited-English Proficiency Consumers by Requiring Translation of Certain Financial Legal Documents
By Efrain Vera
How to provide financial services to limited-English proficiency (“LEP”) consumers has become a pressing legal issue. Both federal and state laws provide requirements and limitations regarding translations of financial documents. Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) published a comprehensive statement encouraging financial institutions to provide services to LEP consumers. The CFPB also…
New Complaint – SEC v. Bullard, et al.
SEC v. Bullard, et al. is a new complaint filed by the SEC in the District of Minnesota on August 27, 2021. The complaint alleges Jason Dodd Bullard and his wife Angela Romero-Bullard (the “Bullards”), the owners of Bullard Enterprises LLC (collectively “Defendants”), defrauded around 200 investors of approximately $17.6 million as part of a…
New Complaint – SEC v. MJ Capital Funding, LLC, et al.
By Jenny Yi
Securities and Exchange Commission v. MJ Capital Funding, LLC, et al. was filed in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida on August 9, 2021, claiming that defendant Johanna M. Garcia ran a Ponzi scheme using her companies and co-defendants, MJ Capital Funding, LLC and MJ Taxes and More, Inc., to trick investors…
New Complaint – Fatime Abdel-Fakhara v. The State of Vermont
Fatime Abdel-Fakhara, et. al. v. The State of Vermont, et. al., was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont on August 24, 2021 by investors claiming that the State of Vermont and several individual Defendants wrongfully solicited and used investor funds to complete the last two phases of a Vermont…
Delaware Court Holds Parties Cannot Negotiate Away Fraudulent Inducement Claims
By Aaron Jaroff
In an Aug. 12, 2021, opinion, the Delaware Chancery Court examined two seller-friendly purchase agreement provisions and held that public policy and Delaware law prevented the seller from invoking the provisions to block well-pled allegations of fraudulent inducement.
Online HealthNow, Inc. and Bertelsmann, Inc. v. CIP OCL Investments, LLC, et al. addressed allegations that the stock…
Ponzi Schemes: A Growing Hazard in Film Financing
Ponzi schemes focused on fake investment opportunities are nothing new. Bernie Madoff, Allen Stanford and Tom Petters are now household names. But there has been a particular rise of Ponzi schemes specifically in the film and video content industry that has intensified in the last few years.
As streaming services vie for dominance in the…