Fraud at Northern Trust Alleged
A recent lawsuit alleges fraud at Northern Trust. The allegations are that a senior executive stole millions from investors including a woman in her 80s.
The investor’s suit is against Northern Trust concerning its supervision and vicarious liability for the acts of its employees. The lawsuit states, “While marketing itself as a guardian of assets for wealthy families nationwide, [Northern Trust] empowered [the investor’s advisor] Christopher Walters […] over at least ten years to steal millions of dollars from [the elderly investor].”
Walters, a former personal trainer, is alleged to have stolen the funds to finance his own fitness business. He is also accused of using the funds for his personal needs. His Linkedin page identifies himself as the “Second Vice President of Advisory Services” at Northern Trust.
Please call Jeffrey Pederson with all questions concerning alleged advisor fraud or negligence.
Sutter Securities Losses
Regulators charge systemic fraud at Sutter Securities. The Financial Industry Regulatory Agency (FINRA) filed suit against Sutter for such violations on January 20, 2026.
Between March 2020 and July 2021 (the relevant period), Sutter, acting through a former Sutter broker, allegedly recommended and effected 2,217 trades in two accounts belonging to a retired, 89-year-old customer. Those trades led the customer to pay staggering costs—exceeding $2.9 million.
This staggering loss amount includes commissions representing nearly 35 percent of the firm’s total commission revenue during this period. Those trades also resulted in annualized cost-to-equity ratios of 46 and 38 percent—meaning the accounts needed to appreciate by these excessive percentages just to break even. Collectively, the elderly investor suffered $1.2 million in realized losses during the 17 months his accounts were open at Sutter.
This type of fraud is considered to be in violation of Regulation BI. This regulation requires brokerage firms to act in the best interests of its investors.
Jeffrey Pederson represents investor for violations of Reg BI. Call for a free initial consultation.
Brent Seaman Ponzi Scheme
Brent Seaman faces accusations from federal officials for orchestrating a Ponzi scheme. The indictment reveals that from at least June 2019 to November 2022, Seaman, a resident of Fort Myers, defrauded investors by making fraudulent claims about previous trading success, past investment performance, and the use of victim-investors’ funds. He promised guaranteed rates of return and misled investors about the status and management of their investments.
Instead of investing the funds as promised, Seaman used money from new victim-investors to pay off older victim-investors in a typical Ponzi scheme. He incurred substantial losses in currency trading and indulged himself by purchasing jewelry, cars, and other luxury items while also paying off credit card debt. In total, Seaman collected approximately $36 million from victims, many of whom were local Florida residents he knew personally.
Jeffrey Pederson represents victims of Ponzi schemes. Call for a free consultation.
Recover Blue Owl Losses
Investors looking to recover Blue Owl losses have recourse. Many Blue Owl funds will lose significant value and could become essentially worthless when the Company ceases redemptions. Private credit investments like Blue Owl make high-interest loans to companies with bad credit. As such, they are speculative investments. Advisors often inappropriately recommended or misrepresented the risk to moderate- and conservative-investor clients. The true level of risk was, or should have been, known to advisors from the beginning. These risks have recently come to fruition. This means many advisors are responsible for repaying these Blue Owl losses.
Blue Owl Losses
In February 2026, the asset manager sold debt holdings equal to $1.4 billion. According to Reuters, investor demand for liquidation necessitated the sale. In what could be a sign of future problems, Blue Owl permanently restricted traditional redemptions in Blue Owl Capital Corp. II (OBDC). The stock tumbled through the end of the month.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the asset sale was to shore up “wobbling investor confidence.” This was not enough, as evidenced by the shares dropping as much as 10% during a single day.
At the end of 2025, the market turned against private funding and business development investments as risks became apparent. In response, Blue Owl has increased redemptions. While liquidity is generally good, the investor rush signals a lack of confidence in the investment. Investors exited the investment in droves. Even with the redemptions, Blue Owl is only allowing tenders of 19%. The offer expired before the end of 2025.
Your Advisor
Your licensed broker or advisor is required to recommend investments in your best interests. This means putting your own interests ahead of theirs. Business development companies like Blue Owl often pay brokers and advisors heightened commissions. As a result, investment professionals often omit risk disclosures for such investments. Regulators consider these investments to be high risk and unsuitable for moderate investors. This would include not only Blue Owlbut also other private credit investments, such as Blackstone and Apollo Global Management.
Morgan Stanley is considered to be the most active broker offering this investment to the public. It allegedly acted as an underwriter, selling broker-dealer, or distribution participant specifically for Blue Owl Capital Corporation II, though exact involvement is still being investigated. Many other firms also recommended the investment.
Jeffrey Pederson is an attorney who represents investors and has successfully done so for over 20 years. Call for a free and confidential initial consultation with Jeffrey Pederson.
Business Development Companies
Business Development Companies or “BDCs” are much riskier that many advisors represent. High commissions push the recommendation to purchase BDCs, but illiquidity prevents the liquidation when things turn bad.
A BDC is a special type of investment that combines attributes of publicly traded companies and private, illiquid investment vehicles. These investments are high-risk. A BDC can provide exposure to investments similar to those associated with risky investments such as private equity or venture capital.
Some BDCs have a redemption process. Late 2025 saw a surge in redemptions in light of a number of bankruptcies. Many investors who could not redeem their shares saw the value of the investments drop significantly. This despite their advisors initially characterizing the investments as “safe.”
Blackstone is a significant entity in the BDC world. It serves as a leading manager. The Blackstone Private Credit Fund, or BCRED, is a “blind pool,” illiquid investment that invests in securities it refers to as “junk.” But the investment touts that an annualized distribution of 9.7%. Advisors rarely disclose that this high rate of return comes with a high risk of loss.
Jeffrey Pederson helps investors recover losses when advisors and broker inappropriately recommend BDCs and other illiquid investments.
Crypto Fraud of Morocoin, Berge Blockchain and Cirkor
On December 22, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission today filed suit against purported crypto asset trading platforms Morocoin, Berge Blockchain and Cirkor. The SEC filed the suit in the US District Court for the District of Colorado. The suit also included investment clubs AI Wealth Inc., Lane Wealth Inc., AI Investment Education Foundation Ltd., and Zenith Asset Tech Foundation. The SEC alleges they defrauded retail investors out of more than $14 million in an elaborate investment confidence scam.
The SEC press release states, “This matter [the SEC complaint] highlights an all-too-common form of investment scam that is being used to target U.S. retail investors with devastating consequences.” The complaint alleges a multi-step fraud that attracted victims with social media ads. The perpetrators then built victims’ trust in group chats where fraudsters posed as financial professionals and promised investment tips. The perpetrators then convinced victims to put their money into fake crypto asset trading platforms where it was misappropriated.
Laura D’Allaird, Chief of the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, heads the prosecution. She states, “Fraud is fraud, and we will vigorously pursue securities fraud that harms retail investors.”
The alleged fraud highlights the risks investors take by investing with firms found through social media. The SEC warns investors of these perils based upon the Morocoin allegations.
Matthew Melton Ponzi Scam
The Department of Justice extradited Matthew Melton from the United Kingdom on December 23, 2025. Authorities accuse Melton, of Boulder, Colorado, of wire fraud in connection with a Ponzi-type securities scheme.
The DOJ states, “As alleged, Matthew Melton told investors he was using groundbreaking technology and cutting-edge trading techniques to generate record returns.” Investigators and officials assert otherwise. Prosecutors state, “In reality, Melton was allegedly […] taking new investors’ money to pay old investors and pocketing funds for himself along the way.” This is the definition of a Ponzi-type scheme.
Wire fraud requires the government to prove that Melton intended to defraud investors by means of interstate wire communication. This intent to defraud also violates federal securities laws.
According to Fortune, Melton promised investors 10% gains. Now, he’s accused of using investor money for sailing excursions in an alleged Ponzi scheme. The misappropriated funds are approximately $3.4 million.
The Department of Justice release reiterates that Melton has not yet been convicted. Melton also violated Colorado state law if allegations are true. Prosecutors seek to imprison Melton for a term of up to 20 years.
Jeffrey Pederson represents Colorado investors and has been doing so for over 20 years.
KEITH MICHAEL D’AGOSTINO
If you were a victim of Keith Michael D’Agostino, also known by the last name “Dagostino,” please contact us for a free initial consultation. Regulators recently suspended Dagostino from the securities industry. D’Agostino is also the focus of an excessively large number of investor lawsuits.
The employers of D’Agostino faced 24 separate investor suits concerning securities fraud. Investors filed most of these suits in 2022-25 time period. These investors sustained millions of dollars in losses and his employers, Aegis Capital and EF Hutton, paid millions in settlement.
D’Agostino’s most common form of fraud is the recommendation of unsuitable securities. The sale of unsuitable securities is in violation of federal and state laws. When a securities broker recommends an investment that is not in the best interests of an investor it is a suitability violation.
Jeffrey Pederson is a nationally recognized securities lawyer and helps investors suffering suitability losses.
Spartan Capital Churning
Victims of Spartan Capital churning should seek legal representation. Churning is an action where a broker recommends trades, often frequent trades, that serve the broker’s interest over the broker’s client.
Churning is a violation of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and considered fraud. FINRA asserts that Spartan engaged in widespread churning. It alleges that the brokers at Spartan Capital churned its investors from 2018 to 2022. The fraud impacted more than 1,200 accounts at Spartan. Additionally, churning generated more than $46 million in revenue for Spartan.
As such, one financial publication described Spartan Capital as having a “Business Model Hinged on Churning Client Accounts.” FINRA alleges that many Spartan brokers participated in the unsuitable business model. The offending brokers include Kim M. Monchik, Frederick Joseph Cammarano III, James Pecoraro, John Stapleton and Michael Darvish.
Regulators prohibit churning or excessive trading. The number of times an account is traded, or “turned-over” is a common way regulators measure churning. Trading can be excessive if the account is turned over a single time if the investor was seeking a moderate return. This is because the cost of the trades deteriorates the return and increase risk in the account.
Jeffrey Pederson represents victims of churning. Call to see if you were a victim.
The information concerning Spartan is from regulator allegations. The case is ongoing.
INVEST Act Hurts Investors
The House of Representatives passed the INVEST Act on December 11, 2025. The Act purports to protect investors but may increase investor vulnerability.
The Act weakens the accredited investor standard. A large portion of private investments require that investors be “accredited.” Currently, to be an accredited investor, an investor must have a certain level of income or net worth. This is to protect individuals with limited worth from these speculative investments. Private investments typically provide little financial transparency and cannot be easily sold if the investment underperforms.
In the place of the economic standard, the Act authorizes the creation of a competency-based exam. The Act directs FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, to create such an exam. Under this framework, brokers will now be able to recommend such speculative investments regardless of an investor’s financial ability to sustain losses.
A foreseeable problem is broker participation in the completion of the exams. Private investments generally pay brokers higher commissions than publicly traded securities. Brokers have, in prior cases, commonly completed, or falsified, account opening documents to allow trading in more lucrative investments. Investors could lose substantial portions of their savings if a broker assists in taking the exam or improperly advises an investor regarding the exam responses.