From Tom Taylor's NOW: SEC sues two weekend financial talkers at Dallas talker WBAP (820).
I have often wondered about the content of some of these brokered shows offering financial or real estate advice. I know stations run disclaimers about the content but even so, what a great way to damage the reputation of your station by having this happen. I presume the only thing WBAP cared about was to make sure the check cleared.
Ever heard of “life settlements”? They’re “investments based on potential payouts on insurance policies held by others,” according to the SEC. Sound easy and safe to you? That’s how Christopher A. Novinger and Brady J. Speers pitched them, and that’s why they’re being sued by the federal agency. They hosted the presumably brokered “Retirement Experts” show on Cumulus-owned talk WBAP. It’s now MIA from the station schedule. At the Securities & Exchange Commission, Associate Director of the Ft. Worth Regional Office David Peavler says “No matter what a salesperson tells you, interests in life settlement are never guaranteed, risk-free or federally insured.” They’re supposed to be marketed only to “investors who meet certain income or net-worth levels,” and the SEC Commission says that “to get around those limits, Novinger and Speers provided prospectors with a net-worth calculator that factored in future income to artificially inflate client assets.” Voila – “One couple’s non-homestead assets falsely ballooned from $263,000 to $1.5 million when the calculator improperly included 20 years worth of Social Security and retirement payments” the couple hadn’t yet received. The agency says Novinger and Speers sold $4.6 million worth of these risky investments.
I have often wondered about the content of some of these brokered shows offering financial or real estate advice. I know stations run disclaimers about the content but even so, what a great way to damage the reputation of your station by having this happen. I presume the only thing WBAP cared about was to make sure the check cleared.
Ever heard of “life settlements”? They’re “investments based on potential payouts on insurance policies held by others,” according to the SEC. Sound easy and safe to you? That’s how Christopher A. Novinger and Brady J. Speers pitched them, and that’s why they’re being sued by the federal agency. They hosted the presumably brokered “Retirement Experts” show on Cumulus-owned talk WBAP. It’s now MIA from the station schedule. At the Securities & Exchange Commission, Associate Director of the Ft. Worth Regional Office David Peavler says “No matter what a salesperson tells you, interests in life settlement are never guaranteed, risk-free or federally insured.” They’re supposed to be marketed only to “investors who meet certain income or net-worth levels,” and the SEC Commission says that “to get around those limits, Novinger and Speers provided prospectors with a net-worth calculator that factored in future income to artificially inflate client assets.” Voila – “One couple’s non-homestead assets falsely ballooned from $263,000 to $1.5 million when the calculator improperly included 20 years worth of Social Security and retirement payments” the couple hadn’t yet received. The agency says Novinger and Speers sold $4.6 million worth of these risky investments.