Boston Accident Injury Lawyer Blog

April 22, 2010 - Nevin Shapiro allegedly operated Capitol Investments USA, Inc. ("Capitol"), a Miami based grocery diverter, as an investment fraud. According to the complaint filed by the

  Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Shapiro's fraud raised $900 million from at least 60 investors across the country.

According to the SEC, from February 2003 to November 2009, Shapiro sold Capitol promissory notes with interest rates ranging from 10 to 26 percent. Apparently, Capitol couldn't keep up with the payments to investors and in January 2005, Shapiro began operating Capitol as a Ponzi Scheme. The complaint claims that Shapiro used his business contacts and word of mouth to attract investors and told them that their money would be used to finance the purchasing and reselling of groceries.

April 20, 2010 - Ryan Smith, 21, from Amesbury, Massachusetts, has died as a result of serious personal injuries sustained when he was ejected from a car on Sunday. Corey Nason, 22, from Sanford, Maine, was driving the car, which rolled over on the ramp from Route 1 North to Route 128 in Peabody. The accident occurred around 1:30 a.m.

Apparently, Nason lost control of the 2005 Saturn Ion causing it to roll over several times before coming to a stop on the median. During the rollover, Smith was ejected from the vehicle and was unfortunately pronounced dead at the scene. Nason was trapped in the car and had to be extricated by the responding firefighters. Nason was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is being treated for serious injuries.

According to the Massachusetts State Police, Nason was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, while Smith was not. The cause of the accident is uncertain at this time and it remains under investigation.

Source: The Daily Item of Lynn

April 15, 2010 - A Tufts University student suffered serious personal injuries when he was struck by a vehicle as he was attempting to cross an intersection in Medford, Massachusetts. The accident occurred when the driver was trying to make a right turn from Boston Avenue onto College Avenue at around 3:45 p.m. on Saturday. The Medford Police Department and Tufts University Police Department responded to the scene.

 

The student was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was treated for a broken jaw and ankle. The driver was apparently not injured during the accident.

According to the Tufts Police, the driver was a resident of Medford and was not affiliated with the school. Neither police department has released the identities of the driver or the student.

The busyness of the intersection is the likely cause of the collision, but police have not stated an official reason. The accident remains under investigation.

Source: Tufts Daily

April 5, 2010 - IRA custodians, Zia Trust, Inc., Sunwest Trust, Inc., and Sterling Trust Company, hold funds as custodians for investors with self-directed Individual Retirement Accounts ("IRAs"). It is now being alleged that at least one of these companies actively promoted investments with Douglas Vaughan, and his fictitious entities, now accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of being part of an $80 million Ponzi scheme. The SEC brought a civil complaint against Vaughan last week, claiming that Vaughn defrauded at least 600 investors, using his companies, The Vaughan Company, Realtor's Inc., and Vaughan Capital, LLC.

 

According to the complaint filed by the SEC, Vaughan offered promissory notes with interest rates ranging from 10 to 25 percent. Apparently, some investors structured their investments as self-directed IRA's. To comply with federal laws, the notes were required to be held by third party custodians, in this case by Zia Trust, Sunwest Trust, and Sterling Trust.

 

In his recent bankruptcy filing, Vaughan lists the following creditors and amounts owed: Zia Trust Company for $6.63 million, Sunwest Trust Company for $2.78 million, and Sterling Trust for $3.78 million. Several of those investors are now claiming that it was their IRA custodians, who initially suggested that the Vaughn notes were a good place to earn high investment returns, and a safe one.