Goodman & Nekvasil P.A. Files Arbitration Claim on Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Fund – Frank Capuano Formerly Licensed with Royal Alliance Associates, Inc., Suspended from Securities Industry
Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A. has filed an arbitration claim against Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. seeking to recover monies lost by an investor in the Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Fund.
Frank Capuano was suspended from the securities and investment banking industry for 1-year and fined $10,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in April 2016 for selling Woodbridge. Frank Capuano was licensed with Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. from 1989 to 2015. In the FINRA action, Frank Capuano consented to findings that Frank Capuano engaged in undisclosed and unapproved private securities transactions. The findings stated that Frank Capuano offered and sold approximately $1.1 million in Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Fund notes to nine Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. customers, all of whom were Frank Capuano’s close friends and family, and purchased $55,000 of the notes for himself and his wife. The findings also stated that Frank Capuano received over $34,000 in commissions in connection with these transactions. The findings further stated that Frank Capuano did not seek or obtain approval from Frank Capuano’s firm before participating in these private securities transactions, nor did Frank Capuano disclose them to Royal Alliance Associates, Inc.
On December 20, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an action alleging that the Woodbridge investment was a massive Ponzi scheme, and that new investor money was used to pay the returns owed to existing investors. The SEC also alleges that Woodbridge’s business model was a sham, and that Woodbridge and Woodbridge’s owner and President, Robert H. Shapiro, misused and misappropriated investor monies. The SEC points out that Woodbridge admits in its bankruptcy filing that it has less than $12 million in its bank accounts while having investor liabilities approaching $1 billion.
The SEC also alleges that many of the properties Woodbridge purchased remain as vacant lots that have set undeveloped for several years. According to the SEC, nearly all of the purported third-party borrowers were actually limited liability companies owned and controlled by Woodbridge, which had no revenue, no bank accounts and never paid any interest under the loans.
If you invested in the Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Funds through Frank Capuano, you may be able to recover your losses from Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. This is because Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. had a duty to supervise Frank Capuano.
If you invested in the Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Funds through Frank Capuano, we would like to discuss the possibility of your retaining our firm to represent you in an arbitration action against Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. concerning Frank Capuano’s conduct. There is no charge for an evaluation of your case. Further, we handle our cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that unless we recover money for you, we charge no attorney’s fee. Unless you recover any money, you pay us nothing, not even the costs and expenses which the firm will advance on your behalf. You will continue to own your claim in the Woodbridge Bankruptcy; our case involves a seperate, additional avenue of recovery.
Kalju Nekvasil, Esq, formerly regional counsel with the NASD, now known as FINRA, has practiced in this area of the law for more than 35 years. Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A. has recovered more than $170 million on behalf of victimized investors. If you invested in Woodbridge through Frank Capuano and would like your case evaluated by a securities attorney (again, there is no charge for an evaluation and all cases are handled on a purely contingency fee basis), please contact us.
Tagged: Frank Capuano, Capuano, Frank J. Capuano, Royal Alliance Associates, Royal Alliance, Broker, Brokerage, Firm, FINRA, Woodbridge Mortgage, Investment, Securities, Investor, Invest, Securities Attorney, Attorney, Lawyer, Goodman and Nekvasil, Goodman, Nekvasil,