What Did Your Brokerage Firm or Investment Adviser Do Wrong With GWG
Published On: July 30, 2015

Stoltmann Law Offices is investigating Halcyon Cabot Partners, and its principals, Michael Trent Morris and Ronald Mark Heineman. They are accused of engaging in a scheme to defraud investors by causing Halcyon to serve as a bogus placement agent to conceal a kickback of a private placement fee, for the firm to serve as a false sales agent so an expelled broker could charge commissions to buyers and sellers in private sales of securities, to falsify records of securities trades for the now-expelled broker, and of engaging in unauthorized and excessive trading in customer accounts. Excessive trading is also referred to as “churning” and is a practice that largely generates commissions for the broker, and is against securities laws and regulations.

In May 2012, Morris Heineman and now-barred representative, Craig L. Josephberg, set up a scheme so that their member firm, Halcyon, would help conceal the discount provided to a venture capital firm, Socius Capital Group, LLC., when it purchased a private placement in Cell Therapeutics, Inc., a cancer drug development company. The firm would earn a 5% fee in the offering (almost $1 million), but the firm also entered into a separate, undisclosed agreement with an affiliate of Socius, through which Halcyon gave back nearly almost all of the 5% fee back to Socius. The representatives also improperly facilitated efforts by Felix Investments, to collect commissions for themselves from both buyers and sellers, in private securities transactions. Halcyon allowed a Felix broker to dually register with both firms so that Felix could charge buyer commissions and Halcyon could charge seller commissions.

Between June 2011 and March 2013, Halcyon, through Josephberg, engaged in churning and excessive trading in the accounts of two firm customers. During this period, Halcyon and Morris, failed to establish and implement an adequate and reasonable system designed to cause the detection and reporting of suspicious activity. At the time, Morris was designated to serve as the Compliance Officer for Halycon, even though he did not have the requisite knowledge or training to serve as such.

According to Michael Trent Morris’ BrokerCheck record, he is still registered with Halcyon Partners in New York, New York, and has three prior customer disputes against him. Heineman is also currently registered with Halcyon Partners in New York. If you invested money with Halcyon Partners, you may be able to recover your investment losses in the FINRA arbitration forum by calling our law firm at 312-332-4200. Halcyon Partners may be liable for customer investment losses because they failed to reasonably supervise their brokers, and engaged in securities activities that were against rules and regulations. The call is free with no obligation. We take cases on a contingency fee basis.

Disclaimer

The posting on this site are mere OPINIONS and NOT statements of fact in any way whatsoever. The information should not be relied upon and there have been no findings made against the firms or individuals referenced on this site. In addition, this Blog is made available for educational purposes only and incorporates information from the web as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and Stoltmann Law Offices (161 N Clark Street 16th Floor Chicago, IL 60601). The Blog opinions should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS ADVERTISING AND IT IS NOT A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE OR POST FROM AN INDEPENDENT OR NON-BIASED, NEWS SITE, NEWS SOURCE OR NEWSPAPER.

Chicago Investment Fraud Attorneys Offering Nationwide Representation to Investors

If you have suffered financial losses because of the negligence or fraud of your financial advisor or broker through unsuitable investment recommendations, over-concentration, churning, misrepresenting risks, conversion or selling away, you have legal rights and options to pursue recovery of those losses.

Stoltmann Law Securities Investment Fraud Attorneys