New York Securities Fraud Lawyers Blog
Malecki Law is currently representing clients and investigating allegations against the brokerage and investment advisory firm Henley & Company, LLC and its recently deceased financial adviser, Philip Incorvia. Public records show Mr. Incorvia openly and notoriously operated Jefferson Resources Inc. since 1992 (nearly 30 years, while being registered as a FINRA Series 7 licensed broker with Henley & Company – using Henley & Company as the website address for the company). Mr. Incorvia was employed approximately 15 years with Henley and Company, operating both out of its offices in Shoreham and Uniondale, New York. Malecki Law is looking for whistleblowers, witnesses, and other victims.
Malecki Law’s investigation relates to a possible Ponzi scheme and/or misappropriation of funds involving many investors and potentially many millions of dollars in losses. The losses occurred across a number of purported “investments,” including but not limited to Jefferson Resources Inc., Vanderbilt Realty Investors, Inc., and JRI Hedge Fund. The investments were purporting to be mutual funds, hedge funds, and index funds, but it is believed that they were fictitious. Some were “income producing” while others rolled over.
A Ponzi scheme is a fictitious investment or scam, in which the Ponzi operator typically uses investor money for personal use and non-investment related purposes. Earlier investors are typically given “returns” which consist of principal coming from newer investors. Ponzi schemes tend to collapse when there are no more new investors to tap into, which often happens during adverse market conditions. In this case, it is believed that there was no one left to continue the Ponzi scheme when Mr. Incorvia passed away in August 2012, so it collapsed.
To protect investors from Ponzi schemes and other fraud, brokerage firms are required by law to supervise all activities of their brokers, as well as to review their outside business activities. Brokerage firms have important and far-reaching obligations to supervise their registered persons and financial advisers because of the important role they play in handling people’s money. If the firm operates through satellite branch or home offices, those branches need to be supervised and audited to the same standard as a larger, central office housing many brokers. A brokerage firm may be responsible for losses in situations such as this, where proper and diligent supervision would have stopped the wrongful conduct. It appears that Henley & Company knew that Mr. Incorvia was operating Jefferson Resources Inc. out of the 10 Beatty Road office in Shoreham, New York; marketing materials also show that location to be an office location for Henley & Company.
Malecki Law has experienced attorneys who specialize in recovering investment losses for victims of financial fraud and Ponzi schemes, including over $7.4 million in investment losses in the Robert Van Zandt Ponzi scheme, in which our firm represented 120 victims from the Bronx, New York.
In 2018, Malecki Law also recovered over $4 million in 2018 as a result of the Hector May Ponzi Scheme in upstate New York. Malecki Law’s successful representation was featured in the media, including CBS New York’s Eye Witness News.
And in 2020/2021, Malecki Law recovered additional millions of dollars in losses for investors victimized by Biscayne Capital and several of its corporate officers, indicted two weeks ago in federal court in Brooklyn on charges of defrauding Latin American investors of over $155 million through U.S. brokerage firms.
It is important in cases like these to work with experienced counsel in Ponzi Schemes and FINRA arbitrations, the dispute resolution forum typically used to recover investment losses versus brokerage firms with supervisory obligations over their personnel. Jenice Malecki, the proprietor and owner of Malecki Law, has been in practice for over 30 years and has advocated for thousands of investors in FINRA arbitrations and court cases, and has held advisory positions for both FINRA Dispute Resolution and the National Arbitration and Mediation Committee. Ms. Malecki is a longtime member of the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association, including serving on its board. She also currently sits as the New York State Bar Association’s Co-Chair of the Securities Arbitration Committee, under the Federal and Commercial Sections’ appointment of her just this month.
If you have suffered investment losses with Henley & Company or had your retirement savings invested with Phil Incorvia, whether directly or through Henley & Company, Malecki Law is interested in hearing from you. Please contact us for a free consultation.