FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Lerman Law Firm (Cathy Jackson Lerman, P.A.) is issuing a nationwide Investor Alert warning investors of potential investment fraud involving Invest Financial Corp., William L. Baumner, IV and Melanie Sweet f/k/a Melanie Leid, both former investment advisors with Invest Financial Corp. based in South Florida.
Lerman advises investors to immediately contact their local office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if they purchased the following stocks through Invest, Sweet, Baumner or were referred to someone else by Invest, Sweet and/or Baumner to purchase stocks in the following companies:
- Hawk Systems, Inc.
- Hawk Biometric of Canada, Inc.
- Hawk Biometric Technologies, Inc.
Lerman further advises investors that they should contact the SEC if they purchased stock in these companies from any other private party who was not a licensed stockbroker or investment advisor at the time the security was purchased by the investor.
The Lerman Law Firm has already gathered information from whistleblowers and victims related to some of these companies and is investigating whether some or all of these companies and individuals are involved in a nationwide multi-million-dollar fraudulent investment scheme. There is currently a shareholder derivative suit pending in Palm Beach County concerning this investment scheme involving the Hawk entities and some of these individuals and companies are named defendants.
Anyone with information should immediately contact Cathy Lerman, principal of the Lerman Law Firm at clerman@lermanfirm.com or 954-343-1132. In addition, any whistleblowers, other potential victims or anyone able to offer information in this investigation are encouraged to contact Lerman directly.