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More investors who lost money in the First Americans scheme have joined the arbitration case filed by the law firm of John S. Chapman & Associates against the securities broker-dealer firm that employed some of the salesmen who sold the First Americans “opportunity” to investors.
The securities law firm of Chapman & Associates has helped deceived investors recover their savings since the 1990s. The Chapman & Associates lawyers have been investigating the First Americans scheme and collected evidence that indicates some of the investors purchased First Americans through registered representatives of a securities broker-dealer firm.
“Securities broker-dealer firms have a duty to supervise their registered representatives and approve the investments they sell to the public,” John Chapman stated. “We will hold liable, on behalf of the First Americans investors, those brokerage firms that breached their supervisory duties and allowed fraudulent securities to be offered to the investing public,” Chapman said.
Investors who lost money in the First Americans scheme continue to contact Chapman & Associates to discuss about their case. Investors who lost money in that scheme may contact the law firm at 1-877-410-8172 or 216-241-8172 for a free evaluation of their case. For more information about the fight to gain restitution for victims of this fraud, visit www.firstamericansfraud.com. For more information about Chapman & Associates, LLC, visit http://www.johnschapman.com/
National media, as well as newspapers and TV stations across Nebraska reported about the lawsuit filed by Chapman & Associates on behalf of First Americans investors. More information here:
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9MAAT7G0.htm
http://www.omaha.com/article/20110401/MONEY/704019874
http://www.theindependent.com/articles/2011/04/01/news/local/doc4d955b77689f6823432438.txt
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/31/2143189/15-neb-residents-file-claim-over.html
Two years ago, the ‘First Americans’ investment program collapsed in bankruptcy, taking millions of investors’ dollars with it. Many victims of this now-notorious program—sometimes described as Nebraska’s largest-ever Ponzi scheme—wondered if they would ever recover what they lost.
On March 31, First Americans investors from Omaha and Grand Island took an important step in that direction, according to their lawyer, John Chapman, of Cleveland, Ohio. In suit papers Chapman charged that representatives of Transamerica Financial Advisors sold fraudulent and illegal First Americans securities to the public.
“Transamerica must have been asleep at the wheel while its representatives were selling this junk,” commented attorney Chapman on Thursday. “Now it has to do right by the people who were hurt while it slept.” The group demands compensatory damages, plus interest, attorney fees and punitive damages.
Since its founding in 1998, the law firm of Chapman and Associates has been fighting back for victims of investment fraud. Chapman lawyers have assisted hundreds of investors recover money they invested and lost in Ponzi schemes and other illegal scams.
The Chapman firm has built a nationwide practice and reputation. As of this writing, Chapman attorneys are prosecuting claims for more than 300 investment fraud victims in 12 states.
“When a scheme collapses and the dust settles, the Ponzi schemers themselves never have two nickels left to rub together” explains the firm’s founder and president, John Chapman. “Since our job is to put money back into our clients’ pockets, we go after the companies that helped the Ponzi schemer perpetrate his fraud– brokers, banks and the like.”
Chapman, once a high school teacher, now teaches investors to look out for signs of fraud: “If it sounds too good to be true, then it is; don’t wait for the explanation, just hightail it out of there. A guaranteed high rate of return on your investment is too good to be true.”
John Chapman talks about the care people take to clip coupons and research the best deals, but they only spend a short amount of time researching where to invest their savings. He feels that people are intimidated about investing because they don’t know how to do it and want to trust a professional.
The Ponzi scheme gets its name from Charles Ponzi, who swindled investors out of millions in the 1920s. He invented what came to be known as a Ponzi Scheme, a scam in which early investors are paid with money from new investors (similar to today’s “pyramid scheme”).
“We have a limited window to amend the case we filed and add new investors,” commented John Chapman. Investors who lost money in the First Americans scheme may continue to contact Chapman & Associates at 1-877-410-8172 or 216-241-8172 for a free evaluation of their case. For more information about the fight to gain restitution for victims of this fraud, visit www.firstamericansfraud.com. For more information about Chapman & Associates, LLC, visit http://www.johnschapman.com/
Chapman and Associates, a law firm with a practice in investment fraud and securities litigation, including scams targeting investors across the country, has been retained by investors who lost money in the First Americans investment scheme. The Chapman & Associates attorneys are now preparing to take action on behalf of their clients, against the securities broker-dealer firm that employed some of the salesmen who sold the First Americans “opportunity” to investors.
The law firm of Chapman and Associates has helped deceived investors recover their savings since the 1990s. The Chapman & Associates lawyers have been investigating the First Americans scheme and collected evidence that indicates some of the investors purchased First Americans through registered representatives of a large securities broker-dealer firm.
“Securities broker-dealer firms have a duty to supervise their registered representatives and approve the investments they sell to the public,” John Chapman stated. “We will hold liable, on behalf of the First Americans investors, those brokerage firms that breached their supervisory duties and allowed fraudulent securities to be offered to the investing public,” Chapman said.
Investors who lost money in the First Americans scheme continue to contact Chapman & Associates to discuss about their case. Investors who lost money in that scheme may contact the law firm at 1-877-410-8172 or 216-241-8172 for a free evaluation of their case. For more information about the fight to gain restitution for victims of this fraud, visit www.firstamericansfraud.com. For more information about Chapman & Associates, LLC, visit http://www.johnschapman.com/
Investigation by the Chapman & Associates securities fraud attorneys has identified several investment professionals who may have sold the First Americans unregistered securities to investors. “We may be able to assist First Americans investors who purchased through a licensed investment professional,” said John Chapman, a securities attorney. “Securities broker-dealer firms have a duty to adequately supervise their registered representatives to prevent them from selling fraudulent investments, in violation of the securities rules and regulations,” Chapman added.
Chapman & Associates is further investigating the First Americans fraud and preparing to assist First Americans victims who were referred to that fraudulent scheme by investment professionals. First Americans investors are encouraged to contact the law offices of John S. Chapman & Associates for a free evaluation of their case. Please call 216-241-8172 or toll free 877-410-8172 and ask for John Chapman or Alin Rosca.
The Nebraska Securities Regulators issued a Cease and Desist Order against First Americans. The Order:
- determines that the “investment opportunities” offered by First Americans were securities;
- states that the securities were offered by First Americans in violation of Nebraska’s securities laws;
- states that First Americans has continued to offer and sell “investment opportunities” despite an earlier moratorium, where the First Americans executives agreed to refrain from selling any more such investments;
- orders First Americans to immediately stop offering new investments to the public.
The Order can be accessed here: Cease and Desist Order Against First Americans.
“The Nebraska securities regulators’ Order makes it clear the ‘loans’ offered by First Americans were securities, and were unlawfully offered,” said John Chapman, a securities attorney. Investors who lost money in the First Americans scheme are encouraged to contact the law offices of John S. Chapman & Associates. Please call 216-241-8172 or 877-410-8172 and ask for John Chapman or Alin Rosca.
Stella Levea, James Masat and Kenneth Mottin, the former principals of First Americans Insurance Services, have been charged with defrauding more than 250 investors out of $29 million. The three executives were indicted on 25 counts, including conspiracy, mail fraud, and insurance fraud, in connection with the failure of First Americans. First Americans Insurance Service has been under investigation by state regulators and federal agencies since its 2009 bankruptcy filing.
Maximum sentences for the charges range from five to 20 years in prison. The three executives, who are former insurance agents, have pleaded not guilty to the charges of federal conspiracy and fraud.
Investigation by the securities litigation law firm of Chapman and Associates determined that Levea and Masat, both of Grand Island, and Mottin, of St. Libory, solicited investments from private lenders. Investors were told their money was backed by secure annuities, according to the indictment. Instead of using the funds as represented to investors, the three principals appear to have diverted the money to their own purposes. Levea, Masat, and Motin appear to have used investor funds to prop up and support their business interests, as well as pay for their and their families’ personal expenses and lifestyles.
When asked by the Nebraska Department of Insurance about the size of the agency’s debt, Levea, Masat, and Mottin offered a much lower number than the true amount. This allowed the First Americans scheme to continue to operate until the regulators uncovered the true proportions of the fraud. In early 2009, First Americans filed for bankruptcy, revealing that it owed between $100 million and $500 million to creditors. The bankruptcy case is still pending in court.
The Chapman and Associates attorneys determined that, to recruit new investors and entice existing ones to lend more money to First Americans, Levea, Masat, and Mottin sent periodic interest payments to the existing investors for many years, in typical Ponzi scheme fashion.
“First Americans’ ‘investment opportunity’ seems a classic Ponzi scheme, where the perpetrators raise funds from subsequent investors to pay supposed profits to earlier investors,” said John Chapman, a securities attorney. “Just as other fraudulent schemes, this one collapsed when the perpetrators were unable to find enough new investors to cover withdrawal by earlier investors,” Chapman explained.
“Once a Ponzi scheme collapses, there is usually not much left to be recovered for investors from the scheme’s assets in bankruptcy,” said Chapman. However, the Chapman & Associates attorneys established that some of the salesmen who offered the First Americans “opportunity” to their customers were licensed representatives, affiliated with certain financial institutions.
“Many financial institutions have a duty to adequately supervise their representatives and make sure they are not selling unapproved, fraudulent investments to their customers,” stated John Chapman. “We will continue to prosecute claims against those firms that were “asleep at the wheel’ while their agents defraud the investing public, and make them compensate their victims for losses,” stated Chapman.
The Chapman & Associates attorneys are preparing to take legal action on behalf of First Americans investors who lost their savings. Investors who lost money with First Americans are encouraged to contact the law offices of Chapman & Associates for a free evaluation of their case. Please call toll free at 877-410-8172 or 216-241-8172 and ask for John Chapman or Alin Rosca. For more information about the securities law firm of Chapman & Associates, go to www.johnschapman.com. For more information about the First Americans case, go to www.firstamericansfraud.com .
