Investment and Securities Fraud Litigation                                            

 

When you invest in stocks and other securities, your investment is only as sound as the information available to you. If you receive good, unbiased investment advice, you can make informed decisions concerning the possible risks and benefits of a given investment.

 

If, however, your stockbroker, investment advisor, or the company in which you are a shareholder gives you bad information, you can sustain significant losses as a result of their fraud. If you have been the victim of stockbroker or accounting fraud in the area around New Jersey and New York, stock fraud lawyer Tom Holman can help you hold the perpetrator accountable in the courtroom, or in securities fraud arbitration.

• Stockbroker fraud

• Breach of fiduciary duty ⁄ bad investment advice

• Excessive commissions

• Churning

• Accounting ⁄ shareholder fraud

 

Stockbroker Fraud

 

Most stockbrokers give their clients accurate information and make trades based on the client’s best interests. Sometimes, however, your stockbroker or brokerage firm may sacrifice your interests in an effort to pad his or her own bottom line. This is illegal; under the laws of New York and New Jersey, stock fraud lawyer Tom Holman can file a lawsuit to gain restitution from stockbrokers who have defrauded their clients.

 

Breach of Fiduciary Duty/Bad Investment Advice

 

Stockbrokers have a "fiduciary duty" to their clients. This means that they have entered into an agreement that legally binds them to act in their client’s best interests. If a stockbroker places other interests ahead of the client’s, it is considered a breach of this fiduciary duty. Breach of fiduciary duty can take many forms. A stockbroker may, for instance, have outside ties to a company, and may give biased investment advice in an effort to increase the value of the company’s stock. Advice based upon a "conflict of interest" such as this can cause the broker’s clients to retain stock that they may have considered too risky, had they had all the information. This is just one example of a type of stock fraud perpetrated by brokers; if you believe you have lost money as a result of a breach of your broker’s fiduciary duty, contact the New York offices, near New Jersey, of stock fraud lawyer Tom Holman.

 

Excessive Commissions

 

Stockbrokers may not inflate the commissions they charge in exchange for better investment advice. This can commonly occur in cases where commissions are inflated for clients who are tipped off to "hot" initial public offerings (IPOs). Contact our office in New York if you believe you have been illegally charged an excessive commission. Stock fraud lawyer Tom Holman will evaluate your claim.

 

Churning

 

Sometimes, brokers may buy and sell large amounts of stock in your account, solely in an effort to increase the number of trades and thereby increase the commissions that they receive. This is known as churning, and is considered to be a form of stock fraud. If you believe that your stockbroker has engaged in stock fraud through churning, contact Holman Law today.

 

Accounting/Shareholder Fraud

 

When a company, or an accounting firm that a company has hired, creates a deceptive picture of its financial situation in order to create a false sense of confidence in investors, that company is engaging in fraud. The news in recent years has been full of cases where corporations "cooked the books" or engaged in "creative accounting." These colorful euphemisms may distract from what these companies are actually doing; they are deceiving their investors into giving them money. This is the definition of fraud--theft by deception.

 

With the recent spate of high-profile corporate stock fraud cases, involving Enron, Arthur Andersen, and WorldCom, among others, investors and lawyers have been able to bring public attention to the problem of fraudulent accounting practices in the world of business. This does not, however, mean that the problem is solved. Many corporations and accounting firms still attempt to deceive shareholders and thereby inflate their stock prices. Many class action cases involving corporate stock fraud are still ongoing.

 

If you have been defrauded by a deceitful corporation or accounting firm, and you are in the New Jersey or New York area, stock fraud lawyer Tom Holman can help you determine if you have cause to file a lawsuit or pursue a stock fraud settlement.

 

Contact Holman Law today for a consultation regarding your case.