Mullholland Brothers Charged with Securities Fraud; Had Florida Investors
Brothers James Mulholland, Jr. and Thomas Mulholland are charged with conducting a fraudulent, unregistered offer and sale of approximately $2 million in securities in a Securities and Exchange Commission civil injunctive action.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, alleges that the Mulhollands operated a real estate business which involved buying, maintaining, and renting residential real estate in Michigan. The SEC’s complaint alleges that to finance the real estate business, the Mulhollands raised money from individual investors residing in Michigan and Florida through the offer and sale of securities in the form of demand notes. Beginning in at least January 2009, however, the Mulhollands’ real estate business began to experience financial difficulties. The Mulhollands continued to raise money from investors and from January 2009 through January 2010, they raised approximately $2 million from approximately 75 investors. The Mulhollands told these investors that their real estate business was profitable, they would earn 7% per year on their investment, the returns would be generated by profits of the real estate business, and that the investors could get their money back upon 30 days’ written notice.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that the Mulhollands statements to investors were false and/or misleading. The real estate business was losing money during this period, needed new investor funds to pay its bills and to pay interest to previous investors, and did not have the means to refund investors’ principal within 30 days even if a small number of them asked for their money back. The Mulhollands concealed their perilous financial condition from investors. The Mulhollands never told investors that they were experiencing financial hardship, that they were having difficulty meeting financial obligations critical to the real estate operation, or that they were contemplating filing for bankruptcy.
The SEC’s complaint charges the Mulhollands with violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC is seeking against the Mulhollands a permanent injunction, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest to be paid jointly and severally, and civil monetary penalties.
James C. Mulholland, Jr., age 55, resides in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Thomas S. Mulholland, age 55, resides in Saginaw, Michigan. Since the 1990’s, the Mulhollands have raised money from investors to invest in residential real estate in Michigan, according to the SEC complaint. As of December 2008, the Mulhollands had raised approximately $16 million from investors and had acquired a total of approximately 300 properties and apartment building units. The Mulhollands used the name of their once-active company, Mulholland Financial Services, Inc. (“MFSI”), in the offer and sale of the Mulholland Notes.
Fort Lauderdale Securities Litigation and Arbitration Attorney
Contact Fort Lauderdale securities litigation and arbitration attorney Howard N. Kahn, Esq. if you or someone you know has a securities or broker dispute. He is an experienced securities litigation and arbitration attorney, and is available to assist individual investors, brokers, and brokerage firms involved in securities matters. You can reach him at 954-321-0176 or online.