Lee D. Weiss and Family Endowment Partners
Have you lost money investing with financial advisor Lee D. Weiss of Newton, Massachusetts? We are investigating Lee Weiss after the Securities and Exchange Commission brought a complaint against Weiss in federal court in Massachusetts. The SEC alleges that Weiss and his firm, Family Endowment Partners, solicited investors to invest in his hedge fund called FEP Fund I LP, which in turn made investments in another hedge fund called Catamaran Holding Fund Ltd. The SEC alleges that Weiss engaged in a pattern of self-dealing, and failed to disclose conflicts of interest, use of customer funds, and risks associated with investing in Catamaran Holding Fund and FEP Fund I. The SEC sought to enjoin Weiss from further violations of securities laws and to disgorge all ill-gotten gains.
In June 2016, the SEC obtained a final judgment against Weiss and Family Endowment Partners. As part of the judgment, Weiss was ordered to pay a $1 million fine, and Family Endowment Partners was ordered to pay a $500,000 fine. Weiss, Family Endowment Partners, and other relief defendants were also ordered to disgorge $8.4 million plus interest. Weiss has also been permanently barred from the securities industry as part of a separate administrative proceeding with the SEC.
Lee Weiss had previously been in the public eye after his firm was hit with a large arbitration award. In Sutow v. Lee D. Weiss and Family Endowment Partners, a couple sued registered investment adviser Lee D. Weiss and his registered investment advisory firm, Family Endowment Partners, alleging breach of fiduciary duty, unsuitable investments, and misrepresentations in connection with the sale of securities. The Claimants alleged that from 2010 to 2012, Weiss recommended that Mr. and Mrs. Sutow invest $9 million in Biosyntec Polska, a purported Polish cigarette company. The Sutows also alleged that Weiss recommended that they invest another $9.7 million in two funds managed and operated by Weiss.
The case proceeded in AAA (American Arbitration Association) before arbitrator Philip Cottone. The arbitrator found Weiss and Family Endowment Partners liable for $48 million, which included $17.4 million in actual damages, $1 million in attorneys’ fees, and $30 million in treble damages under Pennsylvania law. Cottone found that none of the offering documents of Biosyntec Polska disclosed that the company was essentially insolvent, and that Weiss failed to disclose to the Sutows that he held an ownership interest in Biosyntec Polska, which Weiss represented to banks as being worth $14 million to $25 million.
Lee D. Weiss was a registered investment adviser with Family Endowment Partners. Weiss was also a registered representative of two securities brokerage firms: a) Stillpoint Capital LLC from January 2011 to August 2015; and MIP Global from January 2012 to the present, a firm that is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Weiss has been the subject of at least six customer complaints, according to his FINRA BrokerCheck report.
If you have lost money in Biosyntec Polska, Catamaran Holding Fund, or FEP Fund I, at the recommendation of your investment adviser or financial advisor, and if the recommendation to invest in this stock was unsuitable for you, you may be able to recover your losses. Also, if the risks of this stock were misrepresented to you, the advisor and his brokerage firm may be liable.
Our attorneys have represented over one thousand investors who have been defrauded by their financial advisor, investment adviser, or stockbroker. We have offices in Denver and the Seattle-area, although we represent clients all over the country.
Click to view: Weiss SEC Comp (1)
Click to view: Weiss BrokerCheck 4.16.15
HAVE YOU LOST MONEY WITH LEE D. WEISS FAMILY ENDOWMENT PARTNERS OR BIOSYNTEC POLSKA?
CONTACT ISRAELS & NEUMAN, PLC FOR A FREE CASE EVALUATION
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