Securities Industry Commentator by Bill Singer Esq

The Wells Fargo Manager's Wife's Signature on Mortgage Forms (BrokeAndBroker.com Blog)

Norman Man Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering as Part of a Nigerian Fraud Scheme (DOJ Release)

Convicted Felon Sentenced To Prison For Defrauding Victim Of Her Life Savings While On Pretrial Release For Another Fraud Scheme (DOJ Release)

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Defendants in Microcap Fraud Scheme (SEC Release)

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Mail Fraud Conspiracy Charge in Maryland for Scamming Elderly Victims of More Than $939,000 / Defrauded Elderly Victims of Almost $1 Million by Falsely Telling Them that a Relative-Typically a Grandchild-Needed Money for Bail, Legal Fees, and Other Expenses (DOJ Release)

Federal Court Orders Colorado Company and its Principal to Pay Over $900,000 for Digital Asset and Forex Ponzi Scheme (CFTC Release)

FINRA Bars Unregistered Administrative Assistant for Conversion of 41 Checks

In the Matter of Christine Ann Ringmeier, Respondent (FINRA AWC)

In his plea agreement, Adebara admitted that he knew the money involved in the financial transactions involved the proceeds from unlawful activity. He further stated that he knew the financial transactions were designed, in whole or in part, to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of the unlawful activity.

From 2017 through and November 2019, Adebara knowingly concealed the proceeds of a romance scam operation by moving money between and among multiple bank accounts that were opened under various aliases using fake passports and other fraudulent identification documents to obscure the source of the funds and the identities of the co-conspirators. Court documents state that he and his co-conspirators took further steps to conceal the source of the funds, took a commission, and directed the remainder of the funds back to the online romance scammers in Nigeria, including in the form of vehicles and vehicle parts. 

According to court documents, Adebara coordinated with overseas co-conspirators who had assumed false identities on online dating websites and social media platforms with the intent to defraud victims. Adebara opened multiple accounts using fraudulent identities then provided the account and routing numbers to the overseas co-conspirators.  The overseas co-conspirators told victims they were U.S. residents working abroad. In fact, the investigation revealed that these overseas co-conspirators were located in Nigeria.  As these online "relationships" continued, the overseas co-conspirators' would request increasingly larger sums of money, claiming that the funds were needed to complete business projects or to return to the United States.  The victims were directed by the overseas co-conspirators to send funds to Adebara and others' bank accounts, assuring the victims that he would allocate the money as needed.

[B]etween September 2014 and April 2016, LOW devised and executed an investment scheme to defraud Victim A.  After LOW made false representations about an investment opportunity, Victim A provided LOW with her life savings of approximately $266,000, believing the money was going to be invested in a pharmaceutical company. In reality, there was no investment opportunity, and LOW created authentic-looking documents that he periodically provided to Victim A in order to give his sham investment the appearance of legitimacy.  Rather than invest as promised, LOW fraudulently misappropriated all of Victim A's investment funds for his own personal use and benefit, including the purchase of a BMW, tuition payment for a family member, a $10,000 hot tub, jewelry, and other personal expenses.  LOW committed this fraud scheme while he was on pretrial release after being charged in 2015 in a separate, unrelated $400,000 embezzlement case.

[The] Alversons directed Curative Biosciences to issue shares to third parties under the pretext that they were in payment for services rendered or in discharge of debt. In fact, the shares were to be sold in the market to unsuspecting investors, and over $4 million in proceeds was routed back to the Alversons for their personal use. The jury found that Curative Biosciences and the Alversons violated the registration requirements of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 and the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and that the Alversons were liable for Curative Biosciences' violations as both control persons and aiders and abettors.

[F]rom about September 2018 through at least December 2019, he was part of a conspiracy to defraud elderly victims by persuading them to send thousands of dollars in cash to members of the conspiracy by falsely stating that the money would be used to help the victims' relatives pay legal or other expenses in connection with crimes and other incidents that had not occurred or that the money would be sent to particular individuals at their addresses, rather than to members of the conspiracy falsely claiming to reside at those addresses.  Green's co-conspirators telephoned elderly victims throughout the United States, posing as a police officer, lawyer, or other individual, falsely telling the victim that a relative, typically the victim's grandchild, had been incarcerated in connection with a car accident or traffic stop involving a crime, and needed money-often tens of thousands of dollars-for bail, legal fees, and other expenses. 

As detailed in the plea agreement, during the telephone calls, the co-conspirators directed victims to send cash to a particular address via an overnight delivery service.  The co-conspirators allegedly even posed as the victims' relatives to further induce them to send the cash.  Once the victims did send money, the co-conspirators called the victims asking for more cash, regularly obtaining tens of thousands of dollars from the retirement savings of victims.  To prevent the victims from sharing the information with anyone, the co-conspirators allegedly told the victims that a "gag order" had been placed on the case requiring secrecy, or that the situation was embarrassing for the grandchild and they didn't want anyone else to know about it.

Green admitted that, in order to conceal the crime, he and other co-conspirators identified residential locations across the country where the cash should be sent, including in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Florida.  Green and his co-conspirators identified locations that were either vacant or for sale, so that no one would be at those locations at the time of the deliveries, then retrieved the packages of cash when they were delivered.  Green and other co-conspirators recruited and instructed additional people to assist in retrieving packages of cash from specified locations.

For example, in January 2019 Green and another co-conspirator flew from Florida to the Maryland area, for the purpose of retrieving packages containing fraud proceeds. 

On January 7, 2019, Victim #4, 91 years old from Bainbridge Island, Washington, received a phone call from a co-conspirator who told the victim that his grandson was a passenger in a vehicle stopped with large amounts of cocaine and was being held on federal drug charges.  The individual directed Victim #4 to send $13,000 cash for bail to an address in Baltimore, Maryland.  On January 8, 2019, Green sent text messages to another co-conspirator with information about the package from Victim #4, including the tracking number.  He further directed the other co-conspirator that the package required a signature upon delivery.  The other co-conspirator collected the package, and falsely stated that he was the intended recipient.  At the further direction of a co-conspirator, Victim #4 sent an additional $9,000 for the purported purpose of retaining an attorney.

Also in January 2019, Victim #5, an 89 year old from Westland, Michigan, was contacted by an individual representing himself to be "Officer Booth."  This individual told Victim #5 that her grandson had been in a car accident and that drugs were found in the trunk.  At the direction of the caller, on January 14, 2019, Victim #5 sent $8,000 in cash to an address in Baltimore via FedEx.  In total, Victim #5 lost $30,000 to the scam.

In January 2019, Victim #6, an 89 year old from Fort Pierce, Florida, received a phone call from someone purporting to be Victim #6's niece.  Victim #6 was told that his niece had been in a car accident.  At the instruction of the caller, Victim #6 sent $8,000 in cash to an address in Baltimore via UPS.  On January 18, 2019, Green retrieved this package along with another co-conspirator.  In total, Victim #6 lost $17,500 to the scam.

On March 26, 2019, Green was arrested by New Castle County Police in Delaware while trying to retrieve a package sent from another victim to a location in Newark, Delaware.

As a result of the execution of the scheme to defraud, between September 2018 and March 2019, Green and his co-conspirators caused at least 28 different victims to send a total of at least $939,300,   resulting in substantial financial hardship to between five and 24 of the victims.    

The order stems from a complaint filed on February 14, 2020. [See CFTC Release No.  8118-20] The court ruled that the defendants fraudulently solicited more than 72 clients to invest in commodity pools that purportedly trade in forex and digital assets, including bitcoin, only to then misappropriate the money. Further, the court found that the defendants lured their clients primarily by using social media, touting the ability of their purported "master team of traders" to provide consistent trading profits. The court found that the defendants misappropriated their clients' money to acquire, among other things, a luxury automobile. The defendants also used their clients' money to make Ponzi-type payments to others to maintain the scheme. In total, the defendants fraudulently solicited and misappropriated $450,302.

Between August 2018 and December 2019, Ringmeier wrote 41 checks totaling $44,684.06 to herself from the registered representative's business bank account using an accounting application utilized by the registered representative. Ringmeier signed each check using the registered representative's signature stamp without his knowledge or approval. Ringmeier then endorsed and deposited each check into her personal bank account. After printing a check, Ringmeier deleted it from the accounting application to hide the transaction. 

In December 2019, Ringmeier made an inaccurate journal entry in the account application retiring the balance of a debt she owed the business, even though there was no corresponding payment. In so doing, Ringmeier took possession of $2,445.30 to which she was not entitled. The registered representative did not know or approve of the entry.

• Securities Industry Commentator
• Bill Singer