Every day, honest Americans willingly hand over their hard-earned money to financial advisors, bankers, brokers, realtors and other fiscal professionals. We rely on and trust these people, and the corporations they work for, to make sound decisions with our life savings. The last thing we expect is for them to steal from us or defraud us. Unfortunately, this is all too common as white-collar thieves repeatedly prey on a regular person’s ignorance of complex financial markets, securities exchanges, fiduciary obligations and other sophisticated Wall Street affairs.
The experienced financial fraud attorneys at Zaytoun & Ballew know how to obtain justice for victims of financial fraud and recover compensation for the wrongs committed against them by the advisors they trusted. We believe it’s essential to police financial fraud through the civil justice system and hold wrongdoers accountable — to protect average folks who’re vulnerable to scams, cons and frauds.
Examples of financial fraud and other claims against financial professionals:
- Investment fraud or broker, dealer, and advisor wrongdoing
- Unsuitable or overly risky investments
- Phony or fraudulent charities
- Insider trading
- Excessive, unnecessary trading also known as “churning”
- Misappropriation of account funds
- Trustee fraud and breach of fiduciary duty by trustees
- Fraud against charitable organizations or non-profits
- Real estate or mortgage scams
- Vicarious liability to companies like brokerages or banks who allow their employees to defraud clients
- Unfair and deceptive trade practices
- Negligent investment, for example overconcentration/lack of asset diversification
North Carolina law allows for punitive damages in certain fraud cases to punish bad actors and prevent future frauds. In addition, unfair and deceptive trade practices claims may be available in some cases, allowing victims to recover three times their actual damages to discourage unscrupulous commercial dealings.
If you’ve been the victim of investment or financial fraud, contact the North Carolina financial fraud attorneys at Zaytoun & Ballew for a free consultation — to learn more about your rights.