SSEK Law Firm Represents Another Bankoh Customer in Six-Figure Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Claim
HOUSTON, Feb. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Another investor in Japan has filed a FINRA arbitration claim against Bankoh Investment Services over her Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) losses.
This time, the claimant is a small business owner who lives in Tokyo but had accounts in the U.S. with Bankoh and Bank of Hawaii. Our investment fraud lawyers at SSEK Law Firm are representing this investor in her FINRA arbitration case, seeking up to $500k in damages.
The claimant was referred to broker Yoko Farias, based in Honolulu, by the Bank of Hawaii. Bankoh Investment Services is a Bank of Hawaii subsidiary, and Farias has been a financial advisor with the firm since 2001.
This investor entrusted Bankoh and Farias with her hard-earned savings. She sought minimal risk and safe returns, which they promised her. Unfortunately, the broker-dealer and its financial advisor abused her trust by overconcentrating a massive chunk of her assets in Northstar (Bermuda), which is now defunct. Farias has even described these products as very safe when they are unrated and lack many protections found in US-based products.
At the end of 2018, the company didn't meet statutory disclosures, and owner Greg Lindberg was later convicted of wire fraud and bribery in 2020. This made it clear that Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) was in trouble. Bankoh and Farias either didn't know about any of this, or they did know and neglected to inform the investor.
Instead, they further placed her money at risk by continuing to reassure her that all was well with her investment and no changes needed to be made.
By September 2020, Northstar (Bermuda) could report just $8M in assets and was said to have incurred an over $260M deficit,filing for bankruptcy in December 2020.
SSEK Law Firm is working with dozens of investors against the many brokerage firms that sold Northstar (Bermuda) products to them. Watch this interview with SSEK Law Firm Attorney Kirk Smith and another former customer of Yoko Farias.
Contact us today if you believe that your broker or brokerage firm unsuitably sold you Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) products.
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Internationally via WhatsApp (text only): 713-227-2400
SOURCE Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP
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