If you have invested with Shawnee, Kansas financial advisor Todd Esh, or in BirdDog Oil Equipment or BirdDog Business, call (860) 920-5181 today for a FREE Consultation regarding your investment loss recovery options.
Todd Esh and BirdDog Business or BirdDog Oil Equipment Investment Fraud Recovery Options
On April 23, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division issued this complaint as to Respondent Todd Esh. Plaintiff SEC alleges as follows: This matter involves a fraudulent securities offering orchestrated by Phillip Hudnall, with help from Esh, operating through BirdDog Business, LLC and BirdDog Oil Equipment, LLC, ("collectively BirdDog"), two entities that Hudnall and Esh founded and controlled.
Hudnall and Esh allegedly raised more than $3.6 million by selling promissory notes issued by BirdDog to investors. Defendants in the SEC litigation allegedly promised that they would use investor funds to buy and refurbish used oil and gas equipment which BirdDog would then resell at a profit (the "Equipment Transactions"). Instead, Hudnall allegedly misappropriated most of investors' money and squandered the rest on a bogus equipment deal.
To stoke investor interest, Defendants allegedly promised that the notes would pay a 30% return after just nine months. Defendants also are believed to have emphasized the safety of the investment, promising investors that their principal would be secured by a "first priority security interest" in specific oil and gas equipment. Critically, Hudnall and BirdDog allegedly assured investors that they had done this sort of transaction before. In offering materials provided to prospective investors, they highlighted two purportedly profitable Equipment Transactions that they had already completed. The SEC claimed that they represented that each transaction had taken less than 6 months and generated a 30% return - the same return promised to investors.
Defendants allegedly suggested in BirdDog's term sheet that other transactions had taken place, telling investors, among other things, that Hudnall had "tested the concept" of the Equipment Transactions, and had "discovered that the concept was profitable." Unfortunately, according to the SEC, Hudnall's representations regarding his previous deals were lies as the two "completed transactions" described in BirdDog's term sheet were allegedly fake. In addition to misrepresenting their experience, the SEC alleged that Defendants were not using investor funds as promised. The SEC alleged that each Hudnall, Esh, BirdDog Business, LLC, and BirdDog Oil Equipment, LLC engaged and - if not enjoined - will continue to engage in transactions, acts and practices, and courses of business that violate the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5 thereunder.
If you have suffered investment losses with BirdDog Business, BirdDog Oil Equipment, or purchased these promissory notes through Todd Esh, you may have investment loss recovery options.
Todd Anthony Esh, BirdDog Business, or BirdDog Oil Equipment Victims May Have Investment Loss Recovery Options
Fortunately for those investors who invested in BirdDog through Todd Esh, they may be able to recover their investment losses through FINRA arbitration or securities litigation. In the securities industry, when a stockbroker sells investments that are not approved by the brokerage firm they are registered with, they are engaged in a type of misconduct that is called “selling away”. However, because brokerage firms have a regulatory duty to supervise its stockbrokers and the securities transactions they enter into, brokerage firms may be held liable for “selling away” if investors suffer losses in unapproved investments.
How Can I Recover Money from my investments with Todd Esh?
If you are an investor that has suffered losses investing with Todd Esh, BirdDog Business, LLC or BirdDog Oil Equipment, LLC you may be able to pursue recovery of your losses through FINRA arbitration or securities litigation. Please call Kons Law Firm at (860) 920-5181 for a FREE, NO OBLIGATION consultation to discuss your investment loss recovery options.
Kons Law represents investors throughout the US in securities arbitration and litigation matters. To learn more about the Firm’s securities litigation and FINRA arbitration practice, please visit www.investmentfraudattorneys.com.
