Legal Question in Securities Law in California

Re: Investment scam

One way to approach this is to track him through the corporation. Unless the corporation is only a shell, or maybe doesn't even exist, you can look it up on the Secretary of State's Web site and find the name and address of its registered agent for service of process. (I assume it is either a California corporation or has been registered to do business here, since the Dept. of Corporations is investigating for you.)

If any of your documentation shows that he was soliciting investment on behalf of the corporation, it can also be made a defendant and liable (probably) for the entire $10,000.

It is also possible to track and locate "skips" by various on-line means, some available only to lawyers and private investigators. I have had some success locating skips using tools available on WestLaw and two other professionals-only data bases.

There are a couple of Web sites that gather information on corporations and LLCs that are being promoted by scam operators or, sahll we say, principals with shady backgrounds.

A business attorney may be able to help you, and judging from your Zip code, you aren't far away. If you would like to retain an attorney, at least contact me for a free consultation.

On the other hand, I'd say that a fair number of folks who run these sell-and-skip investment sideshows end up getting away with it, because they are slippery and the amount of money they take from each victim is far enough below the threshhold of real pain to keep the viscims from tracking them relentlessly enough.