Northern California Securities Arbitration Attorneys

Known for the Golden Gate Bridge and wine country, Northern California is also very well-known as a major technology hub. Silicon Valley is widely considered the center of the dot-com bubble. Built on unchecked speculation, investors found themselves having lost millions upon millions of dollars after the bubble burst in 2000. Investors in Northern California have seen their savings disappear not just from speculation, but from fraud too. Malecki Law is a national law firm whose securities arbitration attorneys have assisted numerous California investors recover losses, whether from fraud or by a financial advisor recommending speculative stocks to retirees.

In one example targeting Northern California residents, the SEC is recently reported to have charged the CEO of a San Francisco based oil and gas company with allegedly running a Ponzi scheme, targeting the Chinese American Community in California to solicit funds worth $8 billion. Malecki Law’s securities arbitration lawyers have recovered tens of millions of dollars for investors victimized in Ponzi schemes.

In 2018, Elizabeth Holmes, the infamous founder and CEO of Theranos Inc., as well as its former President Ramesh Balwani, allegedly spent years deceiving investors raising tainted capital. The private company reportedly raised $700 million by falsifying documents about the extent of the company’s success in technology, finance and business. Distorted product demonstrations, investor presentations and articles apparently induced investors into providing funds for the company's most transformative product: critical portable blood analyzer. According to reports, a device that was meant to restructure the blood testing field was only able to carry out a limited number of tests which meant the extensive inflated data investors were exposed to came from other commercial analyzers that other companies manufacture. According to the complaints, Balwani and Holmes alleged that the company’s products were deployed to Afghanistan for the US Department of Defense for a profit of over $100,000,000 dollars in 2014 when supposedly Theranos products were never distributed by the Department of Defense nor sent to Afghanistan and the company didn't make over too much more than $100,000 in 2014. Holmes, Balwani and the company itself are in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 as well as the Securities Act of 1934. Balwani was reportedly also charged with helping the company and Holmes carry out these anti-fraud acts. Claims against Balwani are still supposedly under discussion.

Holmes reportedly settled to a penalty of $500,000 as well as being prohibited from serving as a company director for a decade alongside returning 18.9 million shares that were acquired during the scheme. Holmes supposedly also forfeited her rights to vote on Theranos decisions by altering her super majority. Purportedly, if Theranos was ever liquidated or sold, Holmes wouldn’t make a profit until deceived investors were paid back a total amounting to more than $750,000,000.

The U.S District Court for the Northern District of California received an SEC complaint against Volkswagen AG, a few of its subsidiaries as well as the CEO Martin Winterkorn for supposedly scheming billions of dollars out of the hands of investors. Reportedly, the defendants raised capital through making various false statements regarding their positive influence on the environment. In addition, the over 500,000 alleged vehicles that were claimed to be “clean diesel” and environmentally friendly, were extraordinarily far from the legal vehicle emission limits. This scheme continued as Volkswagen reportedly continued to fabricate facts, statements and documents misleading investors about the financial success, environmental compliance and vehicle standards. The company presumably gave out securities at a high rate as well as issued bonds that amounted to over $13,000,000,000 which persuaded investors to give millions to the company. Volkswagen was, according to the SEC, in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 as well as the Securities Act of 1934. According to reports, the SEC is pursuing injunctions, disgorgement of tainted profit, civil penalties alongside restrictions against former CEO, Winterkorn.

Such schemes reach and defraud clients all over the United States. It is not restrictive to certain communities or groups. Everyday hard-working people from all walks of life find themselves victimized or being a target of securities fraud.

Headquartered in the financial district of New York City, the Manhattan-based securities arbitration law firm of Malecki Law represents investors from various backgrounds and geographic areas, including many in California. Malecki Law’s securities arbitration attorneys have both professionalism and grounding in the complexities of securities law, arbitrations, whistleblower representation as well as regulatory proceedings amongst other things. Jenice Malecki has been a member of the Securities and Exchanges Committee at the NY Bar Association as well as speaks at various law schools all over the city including New York Law School and Brooklyn Law School. During the two decades of Malecki Law, Jenice Malecki and her team of securities arbitration lawyers have represented various broker dealers and worked in a myriad of regulatory matters that dealt with boiler-room stock fraud that was an element of its time.

To schedule a free initial consultation with Malecki Law, please call (212) 943-1233, or email jenice@maleckilaw.com.