South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
Private Placement and Selling Away Fraud, Misrepresentation and Mismanagement FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.
February, 2012:
Daniel Bull (CRD #5495145, Registered Rep., Pittsburgh, Pa.) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, Bull consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he improperly used and converted over $491,000 from member firm customers and additional investors by making fraudulent misrepresentations to induce them to invest funds in a company that he and others established. The findings stated that Bull touted the success of his new company and provided potential investors with brochures, making numerous false statements and misrepresentations to gain the confidence of investors. Bull told investors that he was independently wealthy after selling several start-up companies for millions of dollars and had invented a strategy of buying and selling short-term municipal bonds to generate large returns. The findings also stated that Bull told the investors they were purchasing mutual funds and tax-free municipal bonds, but converted the funds for his own use, including repaying earlier investors. To conceal the conversion and fraud, Bull provided investors with fictitious account statements showing a return on their investments. (FINRA Case #2010022548401).