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Breard and Associates Wealth Management InvestigationFebruary 25, 2010 - Seattle, WA Tousley Brain Stephens is investigating losses incurred by investors who entrusted their hard-earned money to Rhonda Breard, the popular Eastside broker who until mid February 2010, was registered with ING Financial Partners, Inc. TBS attorneys Janissa Strabuk and David Hoff represent an investor who lost more than $700,000 she had entrusted to Ms. Breard and ING. TBS attorneys are pursuing claims against both Ms. Breard and ING, which had a responsibility to supervise Ms. Breard, particularly in light of her history of misusing client funds. "ING dropped the ball here,"said Ms. Strabuk. "Our investigation indicates that ING was not properly supervising Ms. Breard, and this isn't the first time ING has failed to keep an eye on its brokers." In 2008, Illinois regulators fined ING and forced it to make settlement offers to its customers in an eerily similar scheme conducted by two former ING brokers. Those ING brokers told clients they were investing their funds in guaranteed investment contracts and mutual bond trusts. In reality, they were taking the money for their own use. One year earlier, Massachusetts regulators fined ING and forced it to pay restitution and interest to customers that had been convinced by an ING registered representative to invest funds, which he then used to pay gambling debts. On March 10, 2010, Ms. Breard was charged with one court of mail fraud for allegedly defrauding her brokerage customers out of millions of dollars in retirement funds. Prosecutors allege that Ms. Breard used her clients' money to fund her extravagant lifestyle, which included multi-million dollar homes, fancy cars, and expensive jewelry and accessories. For a copy of the government's complaint, click here. Ms. Breard is due back in court on March 30, 2010. In the meantime, a federal judge has ordered her not to spend more than $500 in a single transaction without government approval and has prohibited her from selling, encumbering, or transferring any of her assets. "We are glad that the court put a lock on Ms. Breard's assets,"said TBS's David Hoff. We believe those assets were secured with funds from our client and the other victims who lost their life savings. Contact UsOur attorneys are experienced litigators who have represented numerous clients in securities actions and arbitrations in state and federal court and before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). If you believe you lost money you invested with Ms. Breard or ING, please contact us by calling Janissa Strabuk at our toll free number (1-877-747-9016) or emailing her at jstrabuk@tousley.com. Please click here to read our disclaimer before sending us an email. Further ReadingKirkland Broker Vanishes Amid Investigations – KOMOnews.com High Profile Investor Under Investigation – KING5.com Show Me the Money: Kirkland Broker Vanishes – seattlepi.com State Investigating Eastside Financial Advisor – kirotv.com Investigation of Kirkland broker turns up 20 investors who may have lost $8M - seattletimes.nwsource.com Consumer Alert: Rhonda Breard and Breard & Associates – dfi.wa.gov About Tousley Brain StephensTousley Brain Stephens PLLC was founded in 1978 with a focus on real estate and business transactions and litigation. Since then, the firm's practice has expanded to include complex commercial and class action litigation. For further information, please see our website at http://www.tousley.com |