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Investment Scams, Broker Fraud, &
Viatical Settlement Fraud Claims
Viatical
settlements are a risky investment that allows a person to invest in another person's
life insurance policy. With a viatical settlement, a person
can purchase the policy (or part of it) of another person at a price that is
less than the death benefit of the policy. When the seller
dies, the investor collects the death benefit. In
theory this type of investment can help the insured and the
investor, however, this type of investment is used commonly
for investment scams and are often misrepresented as low risk
and humanitarian.
If you have
lost your life savings or a large amount of money through
a viatical settlement and think that the investment was
misrepresented, feel free to submit an
inquiry or
send an e-mail to Texas viatical fraud lawyer Jason Coomer.
He may be able to help you recover your losses or at least
investigate the broker and companies that sold you the investments.
Viatical Settlements are Risky
Investments & a Common Investment Scam
It is an all too common scenario, a
person is approached by a broker about a new investment that
can pay big profits in a matter of months. The
investment not only helps the investor, but the terminally
ill person that desperately needs money. The broker
then talks about how dangerous stocks, real estate, oil,
commodities, and other investments are as well as goes over
bonds and the low interest rates and rates of return that
they pay. The broker then glosses over the risky part
of viatical settlements including what happens if the
"terminally ill" insured lives longer than expected.
The Texas Attorney General is currently
litigating against Life Partners Inc. concerning the
viatical investments that they have sold to investors. In
this lawsuit 2007 TXCA10 10-06-00182 - 111407; State v. Life
Partners, Inc. the Court has held that we do not believe
that Life Partners' interpretation of the contract is
reasonable. Life Partners uses two different terms, "fees"
and "costs," in the course of describing the purchaser's
financial obligations. The contract's plain language
expressly states that the "PURCHASER will not incur costs of
any type" and does not limit "costs" to fees for Life
Partners' services. See Karen Corp. v. Burlington N. & Santa
Fe Ry., 107 S.W.3d 118, 122 (Tex. App. - Fort Worth 2003,
pet. denied) ("It is a basic rule of contract law that when
a court is called upon to interpret a contract, the court
will give plain meaning to the words used in the writing").
This language may be given a certain and definite legal
meaning and is not ambiguous. See Barrios, 156 S.W.3d at
549. The State's DTPA claim is actionable and the trial
court erred by granting Life Partner's second motion for
summary judgment.
Recently, the U.S. Securities & Exchange
Commission (SEC) has filed complaints against large viatical
settlement companies like Mutual Benefit Corporation and ABC
Viaticals, Inc. It is estimated by the SEC that over
29,000 investors were bilked out of $1 billion by Mutual
Benefits Corp. and about 4000 investors lost about $100
million from ABC Viaticals, Inc.
Fraudulent Broker Claims
A broker is a party that mediates between a buyer and a
seller. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer
becomes a principal party to the deal. Brokers that push
risky investments such as viatical settlements are often
working for a commission and not for the best interest of
the investor.
Some of the most common forms of broker
fraud are as follows:
-
Excessive Trading
-
Misrepresentation
-
Purchase of Unsuitable Securities
-
Unsuitable Investments
-
Variable Annuities/Variable Universal
Life Policies
-
Risky Retirement Planning
-
Misrepresentation & Omission
Concerning Risk
-
Risk Profile Change
Brokers are paid commissions for
the transactions they generate, which can lead to them
pushing investments that are extremely risky such as
viatical settlements.
If your retirement
savings or other investments have
suffered substantial losses, due to mismanagement, mishandling or
misconduct on the part of your broker or financial
professional, then you may want to speak to an
investment fraud lawyer to determine if your broker
has committed fraud or negligence that has contributed to
your losses.
If you have
lost your life savings or a large some of money through
misrepresentations of viatical settlements or greedy and
unethical brokers, please submit an
inquiry or
send an e-mail to Texas viatical fraud lawyer Jason Coomer.
He may be able to help you recover your losses or at least
obtain an accounting of the investments.
Austin
Texas viatical fraud Attorney, Jason Coomer helps those
that have lost money through wrongful acts of brokers and
investment companies. He helps review
investments, accounting, corporate actions, and investor trading; negotiates
settlements; and if
necessary files fraud actions and fraud claims.
As an Austin Texas business fraud attorney he has handled
commercial litigation between former business investors
battling for stock, corporate accounting, patents, trademarks, copy rights, web sites,
domains, buildings, customer lists, and other business
assets, he is familiar with negotiations, mediations, arbitrations, Texas State Courts, and
Federal Courts. Austin
Business Lawyer, Jason Coomer is an experienced business
litigation attorney that handles
shareholder actions,
commercial real estate
law, computer law, and
other business litigation.
His office frequently works with other professionals
including Houston viatical fraud Lawyers, Dallas
investment fraud Lawyers, San Antonio investment fraud
Lawyers, and other Austin investment fraud Lawyers to
provide high end professional legal services at reasonable
prices.
Austin viatical fraud lawyer, Jason S. Coomer, helps
business investors protect their assets and negotiate
with former business investors.
If you need an Austin investment fraud attorney or an
Austin lawyer to advise you on a Texas investment fraud
claim,
contact Austin Texas investment fraud lawyer Jason Coomer.
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