Different routes for different investments
Investment fraud covers a wide range, from a registered broker making misleading recommendations to an outright scheme in which there was no real investment at all. Where a claim goes depends heavily on who you dealt with. Disputes with brokerage firms are usually sent to arbitration before FINRA under the account agreement rather than to court. Claims involving private offerings, unregistered promoters, or a Ponzi scheme may proceed in court or through a receiver or bankruptcy trustee appointed after regulators step in. In New York the Attorney General has broad authority under the state's securities law, and federal regulators may also be investigating, but a regulator's case is not the same as a claim for your own losses, even when it produces a distribution to investors.
Records to pull together
Gather account opening documents and any risk questionnaires you signed, monthly and annual statements, trade confirmations, offering memoranda or pitch materials, and every email, text, or messaging-app conversation with the person who sold you the investment. Notes of conversations are useful, but write them for your lawyer after talking with us rather than on your own. If a firm is still holding your money, ask in writing for a full account history and keep the reply. Stop sending new money, including for so-called taxes, fees, or unlock charges that some schemes demand before a withdrawal, and be wary of strangers who offer to recover the losses for an upfront fee.
What a first review decides
Time limits apply to these claims and can be shorter than people expect, so a review is worth getting even while you are still piecing together what happened. An investment loss review works out who is responsible and whether they have assets or insurance, whether an arbitration clause governs, and whether a regulator, receiver, or trustee is already involved. We also discuss what a realistic recovery path looks like and what it would cost, including the possibility that some of the money is simply gone. If you received returns that came out of other investors' money, we talk about whether those payments could be pursued later.
