Investment Fraud Prevention Seminars Being Held in Miami and other U.S. Cities

This month, numerous government agencies are teaming up to present information on how investors can protect their retirement funds and life savings. Upcoming summits being held in five cities across the country are the result of a collaborative effort by the Department of Justice, FBI, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Federal Trade Commission, Department of Treasury, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), AARP and the Better Business Bureau. These investment fraud prevention conferences will take place in Nashville, Tennessee; Walnut Creek, California; Denver, Colorado; Beachwood, Ohio; and Miami, Florida.

According to the FBI, there has been an unprecedented increase in investment fraud schemes in the past year. Since 2011, the Department of Justice has prosecuted approximately 800 defendants in approximately 500 fraudulent schemes that scammed more than $20 billion from victims. In that same time period, the SEC charged more than 850 individuals and entities in over 350 investor fraud cases involving $9.7 billion in losses to more than 1.2 million investors.

To stop this alarming trend from continuing, investment education is critical.

The investor fraud summits will be held in Nashville on October 4 at Vanderbilt University Law School; in Walnut Creek on October 9 at the Rossmoor Retirement Community; on October 10 in Denver at the Tivoli Building; on October 11 in Beachwood at the Montefiore Senior Living Center; and on October 12 in Miami at Miami Dade College.

The Miami conference will take place on Friday, October 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Chapman Conference Center located at 245 N.E. Fourth Street, Bldg. 3, Room 3210. Wifredo Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, will host the event and be joined by Attorney General Eric Holder; Robert O’Neill, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida; Pamela Marsh, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida; Joyce Vance, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama; and Eric Bustillo, Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office. Representatives from AARP, FINRA, the Better Business Bureau and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation will also be on hand. The presentations will include tips on how investors can protect themselves from falling victims to scammers and will include testimonies from former investment fraud victims. For more information on the seminar in Miami, please contact Lilian Cruz at 305-961-9393.