Investor Lawyers Blog

Retiree Couple Says NBT Bank VP & LPL Financial Broker Bret Hartman Unsuitably Recommended XOP Note

Published on: July 2, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Senior Investors Lose Money in Risky Structured Product Tied To Price of Oil

An elderly retiree couple has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against LPL Financial, LLC and its broker, Bret Alexander Hartman, to recover losses they sustained in a structured product tied to the price of oil. In their broker fraud case, they are alleging unsuitable investment recommendations, misrepresentations and omissions, and other claims.

Our structured product fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) are representing these claimants, who are in their eighties and nineties and never should have been invested in a structured note that exposed them to the volatile oil and gas sector.

Investors Accuse Purepath Wealth Management Investment Advisor & Crown Capital Securities Broker Dennis Haywood of Making Inappropriate Investment Recommendations

Published on: June 30, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Crown Capital Securities Broker Was Recently Named in Four FINRA Arbitration Claims

Dennis Haywood, a Crown Capital Securities broker, is now named in four customer disputes, all of which were filed in the last two months with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Haywood is also a Purepath Wealth Management investment adviser.

The claimants are accusing him of making inappropriate investment recommendations of non-traded real estate investment trusts (non-traded REITs), non-traded business development companies (BDCs), alternative investments, and variable annuities (VA).

Brokers May Have Sold Granite Point Mortgage Trust REITs Even When Unsuitable for Investors

Published on: June 29, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

COVID-19 Causes This Mortgage REIT to Drop in Value

If you lost money from investing in Granite Point Mortgage Trust (GPMT), you may be able to file a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against the broker and their brokerage firm that sold this real estate investment trust (REIT) to you. Unfortunately, shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust plunged in March in the wake of COVID-19 and continued to drop.

Our REIT fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK) are speaking with GPMT investors to help them explore whether they have grounds for a broker negligence case.

Moody National REIT II Investors May Have Grounds For Stockbroker Misconduct Claims

Published on: June 25, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Did Brokers Recommend This Unregistered Security Because of High Commissions?

Investors who backed Moody National REIT II, a nontraded real estate investment trust, are now grappling with losses sustained after this investment significantly plunged in value and the company’s public offering and distribution payments were suspended.

Nontraded REITs, which are very high risk, are not for every investor, and yet the 7% commission the REIT paid stockbrokers may have been incentive enough to recommend them to customers even when they weren’t in the latter’s best interests.

Ex-Raymond James Broker Frederick Stow Is Accused of Stealing $1M from Senior Investors

Published on: June 24, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Barred Stockbroker Faces Criminal and SEC Charges for Senior Investor Fraud

Frederick Stow (CRD#: 864436), a former Raymond James broker based out of Tennessee, is now the subject of criminal charges accusing him of securities fraud, identity theft, and wire fraud for allegedly stealing $943,500 from the IRAs and other accounts of two senior investors between 2015 and 2019.

The broker-dealer fired him last year and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) barred him in January. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently filed a parallel civil lawsuit against Stow.

SagePoint Financial Ordered to Pay Over $1.6M for Early Unit Investment Trust Rollovers That Cost Investors

Published on: June 22, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

FINRA Says SagePoint Financial Brokers Unsuitably Recommended Early UIT Rollovers

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is ordering SagePoint Financial to pay over $1.6M in fines and restitution after it executed over $895 million in unit investment trust (UIT) transactions that resulted in more than $17.2 million in sales charges.

Of these UIT transactions, over $203.7 million of the proceeds were from sales that occurred over 100 days before a UIT’s maturity date. FINRA found that these unsuitable early rollovers caused customers to pay over $1.3 million in sales charges that they wouldn’t have otherwise if only they’d held onto their UITs until they matured.

$200K Investor Claim Against Arni Diamond, Of The Diamond Group, Alleges Unsuitable Alternative Investment Recommendations

Published on: June 18, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Diamond and Other Kalos Capital Brokers Are Accused of Broker Fraud

Arni Diamond, who is now a registered representative with Dempsey Lord Smith, is currently the subject of a pending $200K broker fraud claim accusing him of making unsuitable alternative investment recommendations reportedly while he was a Kalos Capital broker.

Diamond is one of a number of financial representatives currently or formerly associated with Kalos who has been accused of marketing securities products to investors even when they were inappropriate for them.

Nine Energy Service Investors May Have Grounds for Bond Fraud Claims to Recover Losses

Published on: June 16, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Nine Energy Service Bonds Expected to Deteriorate Further

Nine Energy Service, Inc. (NINE) recently announced that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) found that the oilfield services company was once more in compliance with the stock exchange’s continued listing standard.

The news comes less than two months after the NYSE notified the Houston-based company of its noncompliance with this standard after its common stock’s share price dropped to under $1/share over 30 trading days in a row. The $1/share price is the minimum closing price per share allowed for a stock to stay on the NYSE.

Some Investors Lose Big As ETFs, ETNs & Other Structured Products Fail During COVID-19

Published on: June 15, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Structured Product Losses Stun Retail Investors Who Should Never Have Been Told By Brokers To Buy Them

The recent market turbulence caused by the coronavirus has caused many investors’ portfolios to suffer huge losses, and nowhere is this more evident as the losses suffered by those who invested heavily in structured products, including exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

And while yes, no one could have anticipated COVID-19 battering the economy and the markets, for many investors, they likely shouldn’t have and wouldn’t have gotten involved in these complex investments were it not for the recommendation of their stockbroker.

Centaurus Financial & JP Turner Brokers Targeted South Carolina & Tennessee Retirees in Structured Products Scam

Published on: June 12, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Accused of Defrauding Plant Workers, Including Retirees

Centaurus Financial advisor Ricky Mantei (Mantei Group), formerly a JP Turner stockbroker, is alleged to have been the mastermind behind a large enterprise that spanned four offices in two states and resulted in the retirement savings of many unsuspecting investors being lost.

Mantei is now named in 35 customer disputes. The majority, 30 of these broker fraud complaints, were filed over the last two years and many of them are still pending. Most of the complaints filed in the last two years accuse Mantei of heading up a one size fits all investment fraud that overconcentrated customers’ accounts in structured products and other risky, illiquid, and speculative investments. Many of his alleged victims were retirees, including plant workers in South Carolina and Tennessee.