A U.S. court in South Florida has entered final judgments against Ponzi scheme operators Neil Burkholz and Frank Bianco, ordering each to pay a $920,825 civil penalty.
Burkholz, of Boca Raton, Fla., also was ordered to disgorge $429,580, which includes prejudgment interest. Bianco, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., was ordered to pay $443,997 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest.
The Securities and Exchange Commission previously charged the two with conducting an alleged $6 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 55 investors. The scheme involved falsely representing that a proprietary options trading strategies was highly profitable. In reality, Burkholz and Bianco invested less than half of the investor funds, and those investments resulted in near-total losses. The two took the remaining funds for personal use.
In November 2019, the SEC filed an emergency action and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Burkholz and Bianco and their two companies, Palm Management and Shore Management. This past February, the court ordered over $1.2 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest against those companies.
Relationships are key to our business but advisors are often slow to engage in specific activities designed to foster them.
Whichever path you go down, act now while you're still in control.
Pro-bitcoin professionals, however, say the cryptocurrency has ushered in change.
“LPL has evolved significantly over the last decade and still wants to scale up,” says one industry executive.
Survey findings from the Nationwide Retirement Institute offers pearls of planning wisdom from 60- to 65-year-olds, as well as insights into concerns.
Streamline your outreach with Aidentified's AI-driven solutions
This season’s market volatility: Positioning for rate relief, income growth and the AI rebound
