Ademi LLP is investigating possible securities fraud claims against Medallion (NASDAQ: MFIN). The investigation results from inaccurate statements Medallion may have made regarding its business operations and prospects.
According to the SEC, Medallion’s president, Andrew Murstein, and Medallion paid a media strategy firm to illegally tout Medallion’s prospects and business operations in various websites, including Huffington Post, Seeking Alpha, and TheStreet.com. The media strategy firm directed fake identities for their opinion pieces in order to appear credible to potential investors. The SEC also alleges that Medallion and Murstein fraudulently increased the carrying value of Medallion Bank (the Bank), a wholly owned subsidiary of Medallion, to offset losses relating to the taxicab medallion loans. When a valuation firm refused to cave to Murstein’s pressure to increase the Bank’s valuation, Murstein fired the firm and hired a new firm to provide an inflated valuation of the Bank.