Investigations of Securities Offerings

Attorney Representing Persons Suspected of Securities Offering Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and state securities regulators investigate possible violations of securities laws including securities offering fraud. If you are accused of securities offering fraud, you need the advice and representation of an experienced securities offering fraud attorney.

What is securities offering fraud? Parties that issue securities or are involved in the offer, purchase, or sale of securities are required to comply with federal and state securities laws.  Those laws require significant disclosures in offering documents. Sellers of these securities may not mislead or deceive investors to induce them to purchase securities. If an issuer or seller misrepresents or omits information about the security, that misrepresentation or omission could constitute offering fraud.

If you are accused of – or if you are under investigation for – securities offering fraud, you need to be advised and represented by an experienced offering fraud attorney who will represent you and advocate aggressively on your behalf. That attorney is Lisa Bragança.

Why Should You Be Represented by Attorney Lisa Bragança?

Few lawyers are as qualified to represent you against securities offering fraud allegations as attorney Lisa Bragança. She is a former Branch Chief in the Division of Enforcement of the Chicago Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. She is a member of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA). She has extensive experience conducting SEC investigations and defending people and entities involved in those investigations.

Attorney Lisa Bragança knows how offering fraud investigations are conducted. She has helped a number of financial professionals who have been accused of offering fraud avoid potentially harsh penalties. She is able to represent clients in all fifty states.

What Actions Constitute Securities Offering Fraud?

There are several different types of offering fraud. Some cases involve the misrepresentation of expected returns on investments. Every investment involves risk, so issuers who promise a “guaranteed return” to investors are probably committing offering fraud. Promises of unreasonable or impossible returns may also constitute fraud. The SEC often brings cases against offers of “prime bank” notes for promising annual returns of 600% or more.

A Ponzi scheme is another type of offering fraud. In a Ponzi scheme, investors are told that their contributions will be used in a particular manner when, instead, those contributions are actually being used to pay “profits” to other investors. Pyramid schemes are similar to Ponzi schemes.

Another kind of offering fraud happens when a business attracts investors by making inaccurate claims about the company’s financial situation. For example, a company may omit details about its debt or mislead potential investors about others who are investors in the business.

How Does the SEC Prove That Someone Committed Offering Fraud?

If the SEC takes legal action against someone for securities offering fraud, the SEC does not need to prove that anyone relied on omission or misrepresented information before buying securities or that economic losses were sustained.

To find that someone committed offering fraud, the SEC need only prove that there was an intentional misrepresentation or omission of material information, and that misrepresentation or omission was designed to entice investors.

What is a Material Misrepresentation or Omission of Facts?

How is a “material” misrepresentation or omission of facts defined? Under the law, information is material when it is so significant that the average investor should know about it before buying or selling a security.

What exact information is “material?” Material information includes information about the risks involved with an investment, the company’s business and financial situation, fees, commissions, and any other information that is important and pertains to the sale.

What Penalties Can Be Imposed?

If the SEC concludes that you have committed offering fraud, it can bring charges against you and seek serious penalties. The SEC can seek disgorgement of all gains, civil fines, injunctions, and/or a bar that prevents you from working in the financial industry or serving as an officer or director.

The SEC may refer the case to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution for securities fraud, wire fraud, or other criminal violations. If convicted, a defendant may be fined, ordered to pay restitution, placed on probation, or even sent to prison.

Here’s How to Obtain the Legal Help You Need

If you’re accused of offering fraud, you need to be advised and represented by an attorney who has substantial experience dealing with securities fraud investigations. Attorney Lisa Bragança has the background and experience to represent effectively those accused of offering fraud.

Attorney Lisa Bragança is a former Branch Chief in the Division of Enforcement of the Chicago Office of the SEC. Lisa is former Chair of the Chicago Bar Association Securities Law Committee, and she is the current president of the PIABA Foundation, a not-for-profit investor advocacy group. Lisa is a member of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA).

Lisa Bragança advises and represents financial professionals who are accused of financial misconduct – including offering fraud – and she is able to represent clients in all fifty states.

Attorney Lisa Bragança has worked on behalf of financial and investment professionals, officers, directors, employees of private and public companies, and other financial professionals.

Contact Bragança Law LLC at (847) 906-3460, or use the contact form here on our website. If you are accused of offering fraud, attorney Lisa Bragança will advocate aggressively on your behalf and bring the matter to its best possible conclusion.