Tagged: fraud

Crowding out the status quo

Imagine if your favorite neighborhood bakery or a local start-up conducted an IPO. Could personal relationships drive local investments and investor profit? In economic times like these, investment in their neighbors will appeal to investors of every stripe. The purpose of this post is to… Read More

Massachusetts and Crowdfunding

There was a recent release this past week coming from a law firm, titled: Are Massachusetts Crowdfunding Actions a Sign of Things to Come? This appeared to highlight the forthcoming risks of crowdfunding.  The statement starts by declaring; Massachusetts’s regulators recently filed fraud actions against… Read More

Funding through KickStarter can be tricky

April 21 marked an amazing milestone for Jon Ramaci and his Cambridge start-up, iCache. He’d set out to raise $50,000 on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter for an iPhone ­accessory that would let users carry digital copies of all those credit, debit, and loyalty cards that… Read More

HOW THE CROWD DETECTS FRAUD

There seems to exist in certain regulatory circles, particularly at the state level, a perception that Crowdfund Investing (CFI), when it comes on-line, will be rife with fraud. But this sky-is-falling mentality is unfounded and points to no structural or design problems with Title III and… Read More

Crowdfunding Is Not an F-word

What is the five-letter word sure to strike fear into the hearts of investors everywhere? Fraud. But what I can’t understand is why this particular f-word keeps being associated with equity crowdfunding. Sure, the involvement of large crowds statistically does increase the probability of a… Read More

Do Two New Fraud Cases in Massachusetts Reveal the Perils of Crowdfunding? Not So Fast

Between now and whenever the SEC releases its final crowdfunding guidelines, we’re likely to hear a lot more about the potential pitfalls of letting anyone invest in private companies. Just as in the run-up to legalizing crowdfunding, lots of that talk will center around fraud…. Read More

STATE REGULATORS CONTINUE THEIR MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN ON CROWDFUNDING

Equity and debt-based crowdfunding (aka crowdfund investing) isn’t even live yet and State regulators, rather than engage in effective and productive dialogue with our industry on how to best protect investors, has chosen to continue its misinformation campaign by describing fraud that is NOT crowdfunding,… Read More

Article Claims Crowdfunding Fraud but Where is the Crowd?

An article in Investment News today alleged a grave Crowdfunding misdeed tookplace in the form of fraud by a company called Prodigy Oil and Gas LLC.  As quoted in the article; Prodigy allegedly sold at least $464,000 in unregistered securities to one Massachusetts investor, according… Read More

Crowdfunding investments could be risky, state regulators say

Department of Financial Institutions warns of potential scams FRANKFORT, Ky. (Nov. 8, 2012) – Would you like to help a local business or start-up entrepreneur gain its first foothold in the community? What if after you invested, that business never produced its promised goods or… Read More

Fraud Case Delayed By 2 Months

In its prospectus, a penny stock named Caribbean Pacific Marketing proudly described itself as an “emerging growth company” when it began to sell shares to the public this summer. To someone uninitiated to the Orwellian nature of recent legislation, that phrase might have seemed downright… Read More

Stop Order Proceedings Instituted Against Caribbean Pacific Marketing

Washington, D.C., Oct. 29, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has instituted proceedings to determine whether to issue an order that would prevent sales of shares in Caribbean Pacific Marketing, Inc., based on allegations that the company’s disclosure is misleading…. Read More

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