Financial fraud includes activities like embezzlement, insider trading, and accounting fraud, inflicts substantial harm on society. It distorts the transparency and efficiency of financial markets, leading investors and regulators to make decisions based on false information, which can destabilize entire economic systems. The direct victims of financial fraud—ranging from individual investors to large corporations—can face devastating financial losses, potentially wiping out life savings or crippling business operations.
TL;DR From January 2020 through December 2023, Chicago brokerage tastytrade systematically failed to report at least 71 written customer complaints to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA Rule 4530(d) requires quarterly reporting of customer grievances. tastytrade received the complaints…
Infinity Financial Services FINRA Annuity Fraud Settlement TL;DR Infinity Financial Services operated without any system to monitor how often its advisors were churning client retirement accounts through variable annuity exchanges from June 2019 to present. Between June 2019 and February…
Quest Education SEC Fraud Investigation TL;DR The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Quest Education L.L.C. and three individuals with operating an unregistered broker-dealer scheme. Between October 2020 and at least March 2023, Quest received approximately $1.6 million in commissions from…
TL;DR A new lawsuit, Hammond v. Renaissance Entertainment Productions, Inc., accused a Renaissance Faire operator of charging ticket buyers service charges that the plaintiff alleged were improper. The dispute ended in a settlement valued at approximately $1.9 million, resolving the…
TL;DR C-Plant Federal Credit Union agreed to pay $1,050,000 to settle a Kentucky class action alleging it charged overdraft fees on debit card purchases that were approved when the account had enough money in it. The lawsuit, Teofilo v. C-Plant…
TL;DR Barclays Capital Inc. effected 25,711 short sale orders between December 1, 2020 and May 23, 2022 without locating shares available to borrow, breaking the core rule that stops naked short selling. The firm dodged the “locate” requirement by reusing…
TL;DR From January 2016 through April 2020, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JPMS) failed to supervise a broker who loaded customer accounts with concentrated, high-yield securities bought on borrowed money (margin and leverage). The firm’s own monitoring system fired off nearly…
TL;DR FINRA found that between January 2015 and December 2018, Ameriprise Financial Services failed to build a supervisory system to police recommendations that pushed customers out of one variable annuity and into a newer, more expensive one. Ameriprise reps steered…
SEC Enforcement • Investment Fraud EvilCorporations.com • Case No. 6:26-cv-00778, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida • Estimated reading time: 6.7 minutes TL;DR Kyle James Asman, age 31, ran a private investment fund called Backswing Ventures LP (BVLP) out…
TL;DR The SEC filed a federal lawsuit on April 20, 2026 against Voyager Pacific Capital Management, LLC and three of its principals for running a Ponzi-like scheme that defrauded hundreds of real estate fund investors in California and across the…