Legal Question in Investment Law in California

Re: Retrieval of money invested for pre-IPO ''friends and family'' shares

Money paid toward a stock subscription is often not refundable. However, your rights and remedies depend upon three categories of things: (1) What were the written terms of your subscription? For that refer to the prospectus and sales literature. (2) Was the offering legal; i.e. was it registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or exempt from registration under an established exemption? If not, you are probably entitled not only to a refund but also to damages, but you may have a difficult time getting anything if the issuers were crooks. Also, (3), what is the current market value, if any, for the issuer's securities? It is remotely possible you can get some or all of your investment back by selling in the market.