B-Ds: 2010 In Review
Adviser Rhonda Breard of Kirkland, Wash., is sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for looting her clients' investment accounts to the tune of $12 million. She pleaded guilty in April to one count of mail fraud after a surprise audit by her broker-dealer, ING Financial Partners Inc., uncovered a secret file that detailed her misdeeds.
Montana becomes the second state to sue Securities America Inc. over the sale of failed private placements. The state's commissioner of securities and insurance alleges the firm and several top executives, “withheld material information regarding heightened risks” from the firm's representatives and their clients regarding notes issued by Medical Capital Holdings Inc.
Donald Hultgren resigns after eight years as chief executive of SWS Group Inc. “to pursue other interests.” In April, the firm reported a third-quarter loss of $11.5 million, or 35 cents a share, after netting $4 million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier.