Securities Fraud Lawyer Blog
Marc Sarner of Beacon Financial Advisory Services Hit with Cease and Desist Order by California’s Department of Business Oversight
On June 30, 2016 the State of California’s Department of Business Oversight issued a cease and desist order against Marc Sarner of Beacon Financial Advisory Services over allegations he participated in two unqualified offerings of securities to California residents. The claim relates to the offering of securities in “Image Development” a California company that was issuing bonds in order to purchase distressed real estate, as well as an offering by Usee Corp, a Texas company selling stock and promissory notes to raise money to fund its internet video-phone business.
According to an order issued in December, 2015, Sarner persuaded several of his clients to cash out annuities to purchase Image Development securities which he described as “conservative investments.” The clients incurred significant surrender penalties when redeeming the annuities. Sarner also solicited his clients to invest in Usee’s securities for which he received sales commissions of ten percent. Neither Image Development nor Usee were successful ventures, and neither returned the investors’ principal.
The Commissioner alleged that Marc Sarner sold securities by means of material omissions of fact, by failing to disclose the operating history of the companies, and by misrepresenting the safety of investing in Image Development and Usee. In addition, in 2011 the Department of Corporations revoked Beacon Financial Advisory Services’ investment advisor registration in the state.
As a result of the findings the Commissioner concluded that Marc Sarner violated the California Corporate Securities Laws by selling securities by way of material omissions of fact and by engaging in conduct that was inconsistent with ethical and fair investment practices.
The above allegations contained in the Department of Business Oversight’s cease and desist order have not been proven, and the issuance of a cease and desist order represents the Department’s initiation of a formal proceeding in which findings as to the allegations in the cease and desist order have not been made, and does not represent a decision as to any of the allegations contained in the cease and desist order.
The Law Office of David Liebrader practices exclusively in the field of investment loss recovery and our securities attorneys have successfully resolved over 1000 investment loss cases over the past 20 years. Recoveries for clients top $40 million. The types of claims we have successfully handled include those involving unsuitable investments (suitability claims), excessive trading or “churning”, misrepresentations and omissions, unauthorized trading, over-concentration of illiquid or overly risky investments, pump and dump scams involving “penny stocks”, direct participation programs (private placements) involving real estate investment trusts (REITS), oil and gas exploration programs, leasing equipment deals and receivable financing, promissory notes whether sold through a broker dealer or as part of the outside business activities of a registered representative, ponzi scheme losses, failure on the part of the broker dealer to perform due diligence, state securities law (blue sky) violations and failure to supervise.
If you have suffered investment losses please call The Law Office of David Liebrader at (702) 380-3131 for a free, confidential consultation