Current Investigations
Citigroup/Smith Barney Falcon, ASTA, and MAT Hedge Fund Losses
Investors in Citigroup's Falcon Strategies Fund, ASTA Fund, and MAT Fund may be entitled to recover their investment losses. Citigroup marketed these hedge funds as low-risk, safe, fixed-income investments. In reality, the Citigroup ASTA, MAT, and Falcon funds engaged in high-risk, leveraged investment strategies that subjected investors to significant risk of loss. Some or all of these funds also invested in risky collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and risky mortgage-backed securities. These hedge funds ultimately dropped significantly in value, causing investors to lose millions of dollars. MAT and ASTA hedge fund investors have until December 5, 2008 to opt out of a recent class action settlement in Raymond v. Mat Five, LLC et al., which is pending in the Court of Chancery in Delaware. Citigroup or Smith Barney customers who fail to opt out of the class action will be forced to accept this settlement. If you lost money in Citigroup's Falcon, ASTA, or MAT funds please contact a lawyer at the law firm of Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. for a free case evaluation.
>> To file a claim submission, click here
Lehman Brothers Principal Protected Notes and other Structured Products
Investors in Lehman Brothers structured products, namely so-called “principal protected notes,” may be entitled to recover their investment losses. Lehman Brothers and other brokerage firms marketed and sold Lehman’s principal protected notes as a product that would provide investors with “100 percent principal protection” and “uncapped appreciation potential.” But the principal protected notes actually subjected investors to far more risk than they were led to believe. Specifically, after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2008, holders of the Lehman principal protected notes will have to wait in line with other unsecured creditors to recover what is left of their money. Many brokerage firms, including Merrill Lynch, UBS, JP Morgan, Fidelity, and Wachovia, marketed and sold the Lehman Brothers principal protected notes to their own clients. Lehman's structured products included Suns (Stock Upside Note Securities) and Prudents (Prudential Research Universe Diversified Equity Notes). Other brokerage firms also sold their own structured products and principal protected notes, such as Mitts (Merrill's Market Index Target- Term Securities), Sequins (Citigroup's Select Equity Indexed Notes), and Propels (Morgan Stanley's Protected Performance Equity Linked Securities). In total, nearly $70 billion in structured notes were sold to investors last year alone. If you lost money in a Lehman Brothers structured note or principal protected note or structured products issued by another brokerage, firm contact a lawyer at the law firm of Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. for a free case evaluation.
>> To file a claim submission, click here
Charles Schwab YieldPlus Fund Losses
Investors in Charles Schwab's ultra-short bond funds the Schwab YieldPlus Fund Investor Shares (Symbol: SWYPX) and the Schwab YieldPlus Fund - Select Shares (Symbol: SWYSX) may be entitled to recover their investment losses. Charles Schwab marketed its YieldPlus funds as safe investments that would provide "higher potential returns than money market funds, with only marginally higher risk." Charles Schwab also represented that its YieldPlus funds were designed to provide "high current income with minimal changes in share price," and that this objective would be accomplished by investing in a "well-diversified" portfolio of bonds with durations of one year or less. But the YieldPlus mutual funds have decreased in value by 25% during the first quarter of 2008. That performance is far worse than the performance of money market funds and other ultra-short bond mutual funds during the same period. DKR believes that those dramatic losses were directly caused by Charles Schwab's mismanagement of the funds. Specifically, the funds apparently were over-concentrated in risky mortgage-backed securities that contained subprime mortgage loans. The Funds also invested heavily in collateralized debt obligations, which are risky structured financial instruments. Many of those investments have no active secondary market, making the securities illiquid with difficult-to-determine values. If you lost money in a Schwab YieldPlus fund please contact a lawyer at the law firm of Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. for a free case evaluation.
>> To file a claim submission, click here
Regions Morgan Keegan Bond Mutual Fund Losses
Investors in the following Regions Morgan Keegan bond mutual funds may be entitled to recover their investment losses: Regions MK Select Intermediate Bond Fund (RIBCX, MKIBX, and RIBIX), the Regions MK Select High Income Fund (RHICX, MKHIX, and RHIIX), the RMK Multi-Sector High Income Fund (RHY), the RMK High Income Fund (RMH), and the RMK Strategic Income Fund (RSF). These funds may have been over-concentrated in subprime mortgage-backed securities, causing investors to lose millions of dollars. (See Wall Street Journal article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118429132937465533.html?mod=rss_markets_main and Reuters article http://www.reuters.com/article/fundsFundsNews/idUSN1445639920070814. If you invested in the above Regions Morgan Keegan mutual funds please contact a lawyer at the law firm of Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. for a free evaluation of any claims that you may have.
>> To file a claim submission, click here
Raymond James and Next Financial Group Broker Barred from Securities Industry
If you lost money in your brokerage account with brokers Gregory Horton at Raymond James or Next Financial Group (“NEXT”) or John Boelke, Jr. at NEXT you may be entitled to recover your investment losses. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) f/k/a NASD has found that former Raymond James and NEXT broker Greg Horton violated federal securities laws and FINRA conduct rules by making excessive trades or churning his customers’ accounts, causing substantial investment losses. Greg Horton has been barred from working for FINRA-member brokerage firms. FINRA continues to investigate whether NEXT supervised its brokers properly. NEXT broker John Boelke, Jr. also is believed to have made excessive trades in customer accounts, causing significant financial losses. We have been retained by a number of these brokers’ former customers to recover millions of dollars in investment losses resulting from excessive trading or churning of customer brokerage accounts. If you lost money at NEXT or Raymond James please contact a lawyer at the law firm of Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. for a free case evaluation.
