Wall Street Investment Fraud Lawyer Blog

Our firm receives many calls with questions about discrimination claims. However, unfortunately, some individuals miss the time limits for filing a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC. Prior to filing a job discrimination lawsuit against your employer, relating to the laws enforced by the EEOC, you are required to file a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC. It is important to know that you only have a limited amount of time to file this Charge of Discrimination.

As discussed on the EEOC website, you must file a charge within 180 days from the day the discrimination occurred. You will have 300 days "if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis." Keep in mind, the time rules for filing a charge of age discrimination is different. The filing deadline will only be extended to 300 days "if there is a state law prohibiting age discrimination in employment and a state agency or authority enforcing that law."

Please note, however, individuals working for the federal government or those applying for federal jobs have a different process for filing a charge of discrimination. They must contact an EEO counselor within 45 days. There are exceptions that may extend the time limit.

In any event, the EEOC suggests that you file a charge as soon as you have determined that that is what you would like to do. The EEOC warns that even if you attempt to resolve a dispute with your employer through means such as filing a grievance or mediation the time limits for filing a charge will generally not be extended. Alternative forms of resolution can, however, take place at the same time the EEOC processes your charge.

Also, you should keep in mind that the time frame includes holiday and weekends. Further, if your deadline to file a charge falls on a holiday or weekend, you will have until the next business day to file your Charge of Discrimination.

The EEOC suggests that should you have any questions with regard to the amount of time that you have left to file the charge you should contact an EEOC field office.

The lesson in this is that if you are a victim of employment discrimination you must act swiftly if you wish to pursue a lawsuit against your employer. Otherwise, you may miss important EEOC deadlines. If you believe that you are a victim of employment discrimination and would like to consult with one of our attorneys, we welcome your call.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a father-son investment team has been charged with securities fraud for their role in an extensive hedge fund fraud. It is alleged by the SEC that these men, Neil V. Moody and his son, Christopher Moody, both investment advisers in Sarasota, Florida, mislead investors concerning the financial condition of the three hedge funds they managed. The three hedge funds were, Valhalla Investment Partners L.P., Viking IRA Fund LLC and Viking Fund LLC. Additionally, the SEC claims that Moody and his son represented to individuals that they were in control of the funds' investment and trading activities, when in fact they were not. The funds were alleged to actually be controlled by Arther G. Nadel.

Specifically, the SEC alleges that these men disseminated misleading information to investors misrepresenting the hedge funds' investment returns and overstating the values of the funds by as much as $160 million. These misrepresentations were alleged to have been made in account statements, offering materials, and newsletters prepared by the Moodys. The SEC claims that the Moodys did not independently verify the figures given them by Nadel and failed to notice and/or appreciate the multiple red flags which should have caused them to more carefully review the information given them by Nadel. It should be noted that Nadel was charged with fraud last year by the SEC and his assets were frozen by an emergency court order.

Glenn Gordon, the Associate Director of the SEC's Miami Regional Office, sums it up by stating that the Moodys "abdicated their responsibilities to investors and ignored warning signs that should have alerted them to the fraud that was occurring all around them."

The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions against the Moodys, financial penalties for their acts, and to require the Moodys to disgorge any illegal gains. At this time, without any admission of guilt, the Moodys have agreed to permanent injunctions, preventing future securities fraud violations and they have agreed to not associate with any investment advisor for a period of five years.

Investors justifiably rely on information given them by their investment adviser. If the investment adviser provides misleading information, which causes damage to the investor, the investor may have a legal means to recover their losses. If you believe that you may be a victim of investment fraud, contact our office for a free consultation. You may also visit our website, www.dossfirm.com, for additional information.

According to the New York Times, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that a new inter-agency task force has been created to address and "(halt) fraud involving mortgages, securities, economic stimulus programs and government bailouts." In a speech to a civic group in West Palm Beach, Florida, Attorney General Holder had a message for those who commit fraud of this kind. He promised fraudsters that "if (they) fabricate a financial statement, if (they) propagate an investment scheme, if (they) are complicit in an act of financial fraud, (they) are writing (their) ticket to jail."

The numbers of pending fraud investigations at the Justice Department and FBI are astounding. Attorney General Holder indicated that the Justice Department has more than 5,000 financial institution fraud cases pending and that the FBI was handling more than 2,800 cases involving mortgage fraud. Unfortunately, these numbers are up more than 400% from five years ago.

Attorney General Holder was also proud to announce that over 450 individuals who have committed corporate and securities fraud, including Bernie Madoff, have been convicted in 2009, preventing them from further victimizing investors.

Do you believe that you are a vicitm of an investment scheme or fraud? It may be that you have a legal remedy to recover your loses. If you would like to discuss your legal rights, please contact our firm for a free consultation. If you would like further information about our firm or investment fraud in general, please visit www.dossfirm.com.

With all of the talk these days about the need to find alternative energy sources, there is a real demand for "Green" energy. There are a lot of legitimate entrepreneurs out there looking for investors to put up money to fund new energy-saving environmentally-friendly ideas. With every legitimate entrepreneur however, comes a hundred scam artists also looking to make a buck from unsuspecting potential victims.

On December 29, 2009, FINRA, the organization tasked with regulating the financial services industry, issues an Investor Alert entitled, Save Your Greenbanks - Don't Fall for Green Energy Scams. The Investor Alert provides a great discussion on ways to avoid becoming a victim of these scams.

Some tips include:
1. Beware of investment opportunities promises high returns;
2. Beware of unsolicited recommendations communicated through methods such as faxes, emails, text messages, etc.;
3. Don't invest in things you do not understand.

The most unfortunate part of these scams is that when something goes wrong, there is rarely a chance to recover the losses from the fraudster because they are almost always insolvent. As a result, the best approach is to stay away altogether.