Investor Lawyers Blog

Barred Mutual of Omaha Broker Edward Matthes Gets Over 5 Years in Prison For Investor Fraud

Published on: June 17, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Wisconsin Financial Advisor Bilked 27 Victims of $2.6M, Many of Them Older Investors

Edward Earl Matthes, an ex-Mutual of Omaha Investor Services broker, is sentenced to 63 months behind bars for defrauding over two dozen investors, most of them older customers, in a $2.6M investment scam. He had pleaded guilty to multiple counts of wire fraud.

Matthews was also the subject of a parallel Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit last year that ordered him to pay those he harmed $2.4M in restitution. The regulator permanently barred him from the industry.

SSEK Law Firm Continues to Investigate Broker-Dealers That Sold Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Products

Published on: June 16, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Northstar (Bermuda) Investors Likely to Only Recover Losses By Filing FINRA Arbitration Claims

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) is continuing to speak with investors of Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) who suffered significant losses because their broker failed to conduct the proper due diligence when they recommended these products.

Already, we have filed a number of Financial Industry Regulatory Arbitration (FINRA) claims against many of the broker-dealers whose registered representatives sold these offshore investments.

Customers of Ameriprise Financial Services Broker Kevin Houser Seek $1.6M in Alternative Investment Losses

Published on: June 14, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ameriprise Financial Services Investment Advisor Accused of Unsuitability, Misrepresentations

If you suffered investment losses while working with Ameriprise Financial Services stockbroker, Kevin Douglas Houser, please contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) right away.

The Center Valley, Pennsylvania financial advisor is already named in four substantial pending customer disputes over alternative investments.

Truist Investment Services Broker Stephen Berrocal Recommended Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda)

Published on: June 11, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Truist Investment Services Financial Advisor Named in $1.5M of Pending Customer Disputes

Stephen Berrocal, a Truist Investment Services broker and investment advisor based out of Coral Gables, Florida, is named in three active customer disputes. At least one of them appears to involve the allegedly unsuitable recommendation of Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda). The claimant in that case is seeking $500K in damages.

Truist Investment Services registered representatives sold Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) products to customers, many of whom have now lost money in the wake of the company going bankrupt and into liquidation. Its owner, Greg Lindberg, is in prison. He is suspected of having funneled funds from Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) to his other companies.

Former Cetera Advisors Network Broker David Rockwell Sentenced To Prison For Fraud

Published on: June 9, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Fort Meyers, Florida Financial Advisor Misappropriated $1.02M From Investors

A former Cetera Advisors Network registered representative, David Aaron Rockwell, has been sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for multiple counts of bank fraud and wire fraud. According to the US Justice Department, Rockwell defrauded investors of over $1.02M and used their money to pay his credit card debt and purchase a house.

Court documents state that while overseeing retirement and investment clients for customers, Rockwell began to take investors’ funds in 2017. He allegedly defrauded a federally insured bank by applying for $700K in credit lines under a client’s name without that person’s knowledge or consent. Rockwell is also accused of convincing another client to invest $400K in low-income housing and instead, using the money to cover his debt and buy the home.

Japanese Customers of Bankoh Investment Services Broker Yoko Farias Suffer Six-Figure Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Losses

Published on: June 7, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Japanese Couple Seeks Up To $500K in Northstar (Bermuda) Damages

A Japanese couple has filed an investor claim against Bank of Hawaii subsidiary, Bankoh Investment Services, Inc. for losses they suffered in Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda). The off-shore investment was recommended to them by broker Yoko Farias, who has been under scrutiny for some time for selling Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) investment products to clients.

The claimants are an older couple who live in Japan where they set up a basic checking account at Bank of Hawaii’s branch in Tokyo. These inexperienced investors were introduced to Farias, who recommended that they invest their money differently.

Ex-Madison Avenue Securities Broker Jeffrey Dixson Named in Numerous GPB Investor Fraud Claims

Published on: June 4, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former Vancouver, Washington Financial Adviser Has 21 Disclosures On Record

Jeffrey Raymond Dixson, an ex-Madison Avenue Securities investment advisor and stockbroker, is the subject of at least 10 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claims in which the customers are seeking damages for their GPB private placement losses.

The investments were issued by GPB Capital Holdings, which is now accused of running an over $1.8B Ponzi scam that defrauded more than 17,000 investors. Madison Avenue Securities is one of many broker-dealers that earned over $160M in commissions from selling GPB alternative investments.

Ex-Cetera Advisors Broker Mark Barrand Accused of Making Unsuitable Investment Recommendations

Published on: June 3, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Denver Financial Advisor Mark Barrand Named in Pending Customer Disputes

Mark Allen Barrand, an Ameriprise Financial broker based in Denver, has nine customer claims on his BrokerCheck record. The most recent one, brought in February 2021, was from his time as a Cetera Advisors registered representative.

Barrand has worked 14 years in the industry, and he is also an investment adviser. Other firms where he used to be registered include Legacy Advisor Services and Legacy Financial Services.

Florida Retiree Pursues Six-Figure Energy 11 Investor Fraud Claim Against David Lerner Associates

Published on: June 1, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Florida Energy 11 Investor Alleges Unsuitability, Misrepresentations and Omissions

A senior investor says that a David Lerner Associates broker unsuitably recommended that she invest in Energy 11, LP. This non-public limited partnership has been exclusively marketed and sold by the broker-dealer to its clients, costing many of them significant investment losses. Many of these customers should never have been advised to purchase this oil and natural gas private placement.

Our Energy 11 investment fraud attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) are representing this retiree in her Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim to pursue damages. If you are an investor who suffered losses in Energy 11 LP, contact SSEK Law Firm at (813) 560-2992 in Florida or, throughout the US, call (800) 259-9010 today.

FINRA Suspends Ex-MML Investors Services Broker Adam Belardino

Published on: May 31, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

New York Financial Adviser Has Multiple Customer Disputes on Record

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has suspended ex-MML Investors Services LLC broker Adam Gerard Belardino. The suspension runs from February 2021 until Belardino either provides the information that the self-regulatory organization (SRO) has requested or the suspension becomes a permanent bar.

Belardino, who is also a former registered investment advisor, has several disclosures on his BrokerCheck, including six customer disputes. MML Investors Services fired Belardino in 2019. The firm, in its Form U5, said that this was in connection to a customer complaint accusing the then-broker of excessive trading, making misrepresentations, and other negligence and broker misconduct.