Category: Consumer fraud

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Why do Annuities Have a Bad Reputation? If you’ve been looking into an annuity, it’s almost certain you’ve come across a lot of sources warning you away. Why is that? On the surface, an annuity can make sense: purchasing an annuity now can save money on taxes, provide […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The SEC wants to alert the individuals receiving compensation from insurance companies after natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, oil spills, and fires that they may be targets of investment fraud. This compensation gives rise to investment scams and takes many forms. There are the classic Ponzi schemes where […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER A federal jury is currently deliberating if one of the nation’s premiere hospice providers, AseraCare, has fraudulently billed Medicare more than $7 million for 121 patients who were not on the verge of dying. This case is interesting for two reasons. The first reason is that it is […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER It’s tempting to see retirement saving as a viable way to get big returns off Wall St. investment, to provide a hefty sum for potential medical costs, caretaking, and passing on to the next generation of your family. But the cost of big returns is big risks, and […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER An increasing number of seniors have been adding risky financial products to their retirement finances, guided by so-called “elder financial planners” and other shysters looking to make some money out of seniors’ life savings. One of their methods is to sell retirees a deferred annuity. The idea is […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Finra, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, has decided to give financial advisers the authority to circumvent rules on trade execution when they believe that an elderly client is being manipulated or financially abused. Till now, there was no way of stopping a transaction carried out by unscrupulous relatives […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER If you’ve ever seen an advertisement for free lunch seminars on living trusts, or for the astoundingly low cost to set one up, you may be thinking it’s too good to be true. Well, you’re right. It’s probably a lure for a living trust mill. It has long […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER In a recent ruling that has implications for whistleblowers filing under the False Claims Act, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision. The ruling should lead to more whistleblowers filing qui tam lawsuits. In this case, United States ex rel. Hartpence v. Kinetic Concepts, […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER It’s been a long time since life insurance was a risky business. In the last century and a half, reformers have created a sold, staid industry that is compelled by law to invest the bulk of its customers’ money in low-yield, low-risk bonds that are guaranteed to produce […]

Fidelity Doubles Down on Deferred Annuities ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Fidelity Investments is stepping up their inclusion of deferred annuities as part of retirement planning. Their move follows a record year for deferred income annuities, with sales at nearly $3 billion, up 22% from the previous year. As sales skyrocket, the only […]