According to reports the managing partner of Detroit Memorial Partners (“DMP”), Mark Morrow, is accused of issuing approximately $19 million in fraudulent promissory notes and $4.5 million in equity interests.
The allegations brought forth by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accuse DMP and Morrow of making material misrepresentations and omissions to investors. DMP and Morrow allegedly told investors that they owned various cemetery properties in Michigan and that the notes would be secured by theses properties. However, according to the SEC, DMP apparently did not own any cemetery properties and the notes were never registered with
the SEC.
In addition, investors were allegedly told that proceeds from the notes would be used to acquire and manage the properties, when in fact the proceeds were purportedly used to fund Morrow’s personal equity interest in DMP and pay the interest owed to other DMP note holders. Morrow allegedly told investors that DMP was debt free despite the substantial obligations to
note holders.
According to the SEC, approximately 190 investors throughout the US purchased the notes. The notes were sold by Summit Capital, the advisory firm of Morrow’s long-time associate Angelo Alleca, who is currently under investigation by the SEC for operating a Ponzi scheme.
According to his FINRA BrokerCheck Report (CRD), Morrow has worked with Summit Capital Investment Group since 04/1998 and Summit Capital Trading since 04/1997. Marrow is also a licensed broker and has worked with the following registered FINRA firms: Olde Discount Corporation 01/1988-02/1996, Westport Resources Investment Services from 05/1996-08/1996, Online Trading Inc from 04/1997-08/1997, and Landmark Investment Group form 12/1998-10/2012.
When a FINRA registered broker, like Morrow, conducts business outside of the brokerage firm his activity can be considered “selling away.” If a registered broker “sells away,” the brokerage firm may liable for negligent supervision of their employee and can potentially be held responsible for investment losses through a FINRA dispute resolution claim. As such, to the extent that Morrow solicited investments in promissory notes while registered with a FINRA affiliated firm, the firm may have liability for failing to properly supervise Morrow.
If you invested in Detroit Memorial Partners through Mark Morrow or Angelo Alleca and would like to speak to a securities attorney about your litigation options, please call the securities attorneys of The White Law Group at 312-238-9650 for a free consultation.
The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.
For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at
http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.
