As investments have grown more complex, so have fraudulent schemes that exact a toll on returns on investor portfolios, including losses that may be subtle or more pronounced.
Investment losses can range from failure to disclose fees and costs that eat away at investment returns as well as classic Ponzi schemes that can ensnare numerous investors under a single investment scheme.
Investment fraud occurs in more subtle ways such as low to zero commission investment brokerages that also offer bank sweep programs which can default investors uninvested cash into low-yield in-house accounts that serves to benefit the investment brokerage. Other forms of investment fraud can be found in registered investment advisors who accept undisclosed or insufficiently disclosed payments from large mutual fund providers.
More recently, complex investment products geared to yield-starved investors include market-linked CDs, exchange traded notes (“ETNs”), and structured notes that can have caps and carry are contemporary, complex and sometimes volatile with poorly disclosed fees and costs.
If you have been the target of potential or actual investment fraud, you should prudently explore your legal options for recovering your investment losses. Manfred, APC, is ready to evaluate any potential fraud that resulted in your investment losses.
How Investor Fraud Often Works
Investor fraud claims typically involve the illegal sale of financial instruments. Perpetrators may target specific groups such as a religious group, a fraternal society or a particular ethnic group of recent immigrants. These perpetrators will go to great lengths to build trust before raking in the money that will come through doomed investments.
Once the wrongdoer investment brokers have groomed a certain class of people, they then push Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, “pump and dump” tactics and advance fee schemes. There may or may not be criminal charges, but in any case, a civil claim is worth considering.
There Is No Shame For The Defrauded, But There Is Blame For The Perpetrator
It is natural to feel embarrassed or foolish, as well as outraged, once you realize that you and others have been duped. It may also be personally devastating, as well as disruptive to the group that was cheated.
Manfred, APC, in San Diego, has successfully represented numerous individuals and groups in investor fraud cases. Plaintiff lawyer Manfred Muecke's 18 years in practice have prepared him to evaluate the merits of both individual and class action claims against individuals and organizations that craft methods of investment fraud.
To schedule a consultation, call us at (619) 550-4005 or complete our simple online form.