Failure of Supervision Was A Key Claim in a Case Completed by Banks Law Office This Week
Portland, Oregon (PRWEB) July 31, 2013 -- Banks Law Office has represented 10 investors over the last two years who were victims of a Ponzi scheme that was sold under the name of the Grifphon Funds (FINRA 12-01547), which was operated out of Portland, Oregon, and sold primarily on the West Coast. The chief executive of Grifphon, Yusaf Jawed, recently pled guilty to felony securities fraud and is awaiting sentencing in federal court in Portland, Oregon. US v. Jawed, Case No. 3-13-cr-00125. Others associated with Grifphon have also been investigated by the US Attorney’s Office, and charged civilly by the Securities and Exchange Commission (U.S. SEC Litigation Release No. 22487). Although the fraudulent Grifphon hedge fund raised more than $20 million from investors, regulators have not been able to recover the investors’ money.
Banks Law Office often represents investors in such cases, filing claims against stockbrokerage firms, banks, attorneys, and accountants who may have assisted in the sales. Oftentimes, Ponzi scheme victims prematurely give up hope of recovering their lost investments, according to Robert Banks, an attorney at the law firm who specializes in recovering money for investors in such circumstances. "The securities laws and regulations allow for investors to recover against a wide range of parties that knowingly or unknowingly participated in the sales," said Banks. In the most recent case, that the Banks firm completed, an investor had purchased Grifphon through his financial advisor at Raymond James. Raymond James never approved Grifphon for sale to its clients, and was unaware that its financial advisor was soliciting clients to purchase the fund. Nonetheless, the investor prevailed in a FINRA arbitration case decided last week (FINRA 12-01905). The investor received an award for the full amount of the Grifphon investment he made while he was a Raymond James client. “We were happy with the result in this case, which is known as a selling away case,” said Robert Banks, the trial attorney for the investor. “I think the key to the case was a failure of supervision. Brokerage firms have an obligation to supervise their financial advisors, and if they fail to do so, there is usually a strong case to be made that they are responsible for the investors losses, even if the brokerage did not even know that the sales had occurred,” Banks explained.
Banks reports that he and his firm have been successful for each of the Grifphon hedge funds investors that they have represented. “We have recovered from brokerage firms and a bank, all of which had some connection with the sales to our clients, even though they were not directly involved in the Ponzi scheme fraud.”
Banks Law Office has been representing clients for nearly thirty years in financial litigation, winning awards and settlements in the tens of millions of dollars against major Wall Street firms, brokerages, investment advisors, lawyers, accountants, and others. Banks Law Office is available for a free confidential evaluation for investors nationwide at 800 647-8130.
Bob Banks, Banks Law Office, http://www.bankslawoffice.com, 800 647 8130, [email protected]
Share this article