The White Law Group is investigating securities fraud claims involving Provident Royalties, LLC.  Specifically, the firm is investigating whether the broker-dealers that recommended Provident Royalties failed to perform the necessary due diligence prior to recommending the investment for sale to its clients.

More than 60 independent broker-dealers sold the private placements issued by Provident Royalties, which the Securities and Exchange Commission last summer charged with fraud and which now is in receivership. Thirteen broker-dealers that sold the Provident deals are now out of business.

One of the owners of the defunct oil and gas dealmaker Provident Royalties LLC has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud investors in a $485 million scheme that ensnared dozens of independent broker-dealers.

Joseph Blimline, 35, also plead guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to a second charge of defrauding Michigan investors in a separate $50 million oil and gas scheme. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each of the two charges, according to a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney John Bales.

In a civil lawsuit, the Securities and Exchange Commissioned last year alleged that Provident advanced about $93 million of investor funds to Mr. Blimline and entities he controlled. The funds were for the purported purchase of oil and gas interests, or loans, to which Provident often never received title or repayment, according to the SEC.

In total, 7,700 investors purchased the Provident Royalties private deals, which Mr. Blimline and other Provident executives began offering in September 2006.

Hundreds of investors have filed arbitration claims against these broker-dealers, suing them for their losses in the scheme.

If you have questions about Provident Royalties investments you made, The White Law Group may be able to help.  For a free consultation, call the firm at 312-238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida. With over 30 years of securities law experience, including experience working at FINRA (f/k/a the NASD) and the SEC, The White Law Group has the expertise to help investors defrauded in securities, investment and financial business transactions.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at https://whitesecuritieslaw.com.