Venable Ditches Investment Adviser Suit Over Facebook Stock Scam

Venable LLP convinced a federal judge in Pennsylvania to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a former investment adviser who alleged the law firm helped a swindler abscond with $11.25 million without delivering promised Facebook Inc. shares.

Timothy Burns says he coordinated with “fraud expert” Troy Stratos for Burns’ clients to buy 40 million pre-IPO shares of Facebook, but he ended up transferring $11.25 million and receiving nothing in return. Burns was accused of misleading investors to believe he was buying stock directly from Facebook shareholders, and convicted of wire fraud, mail fraud, and making a false statement to a financial ...