Investor Lawyers Blog

Investors in unregistered Woodbridge First Position Commercial Mortgages (“FPCMs”) notes and/or units upon the recommendation of former financial advisor Jerry Davis Raines (CRD# 4578689, hereinafter “Raines”) may be able to recover losses in arbitration before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). According to FINRA BrokerCheck, a number of investors have already filed claims against Mr.…

As recently announced, the board of directors of Hines Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. (“Hines REIT” or the “Company”) — one of three publicly registered non-traded REITs sponsored by Hines — has unanimously voted for approval of a plan of liquidation and dissolution of the Company (“Liquidation Plan”). Under the Liquidation Plan, which calls for…

As recently reported, third party real estate investment firms Everest REIT Investors I LLC and Everest REIT Investors III LLC, two private affiliated entities, commenced an unsolicited tender offer to purchase approximately 8.8 million shares of CNL Healthcare Properties, Inc. (“CNL Healthcare”) common stock for $7.50 each. Unless amended, this unsolicited tender offer will expire…

On July 18, 2018, the SEC filed a lawsuit in the District of Connecticut naming Temenos Advisory, Inc. (“Temenos”) and George L. Taylor (“Taylor”) as Defendants and essentially alleging that Defendants made improper recommendations of certain private placement investments to their investment advisory clients. A copy of the SEC Complaint is accessible here: SEC v…

American Finance Trust, Inc. (“AFIN” or the “Company”) listed its shares on Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) on July 19, 2018, with trading opening at $13.15 a share with. AFIN sold shares to public at $25.00 a share,. While the trading price of AFIN may fluctuate, it appears that pre-listing investors in the REIT have…

As recently reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), investments in so-called private placements have experienced a substantial upswing in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. In fact, according to a May 7, 2018 WSJ article entitled, A Private-Market Deal Gone Bad: Sketchy Brokers, Bilked Seniors and a Cosmetologist, “In 2017 alone, private placements…

As recently reported, former broker Kyusun Kim (a/k/a Kyu Sun Kim, a/k/a Kenny Kim) (CRD# 2864085) has consented to a “sanction and to the entry of findings [by FINRA] that he made unsuitable recommendations to numerous senior customers, who were retiring or had retired that they concentrate their retirement assets and liquid net worth in…

Investors in Woodbridge upon the recommendation of former financial advisor Joel Vincent Flaningan (“Flaningan”) (CRD# 5664958) may be able to recover their losses in FINRA arbitration. According to FINRA BrokerCheck, Mr. Flaningan was discharged from employment with NYLife Securities LLC (“NYLife”) (CRD# 5167) on or about May 10, 2018, in connection with “allegations he was…

On June 19, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a Complaint against various individuals and entities — including former financial advisor John Charles Piccarreto, Jr. (CRD# 6276418) of San Antonio, TX — in furtherance of the SEC’s efforts to “stop an ongoing fraudulent scheme in which the Defendants have raised more than $102…

Investors in Woodbridge Units or Notes, as further defined below, who purchased a Woodbridge investment based upon a recommendation by former financial advisor Alan Harold New (CRD# 2892508) may be able to recover losses through securities arbitration. Publicly available information through FINRA BrokerCheck indicates that Alan New was formerly affiliated with broker-dealer NYLife Securities LLC…