Broker Fraud

FINRA Cases: Allegis Investment Adviser and Ex-Broker Ordered to Pay Nearly $405K, Former Madison Avenues Securities Broker Accused in $1.67M Unauthorized Trading Case is Barred by FINRA, and US Senator Elizabeth Warren Introduces Bill To Address Unpaid Arbitration Awards

Published on: March 7, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

FINRA Arbitration Panel Awards Allegis Investment Advisors Client $404,482

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel has awarded Mark Watson $404,482 in his unauthorized trading case against Allegis Investment Services, Allegis Investment Advisors, and ex-broker Brandon Curt Stimpson. Watson is accusing Stimpson of placing his life savings in investments that were too risky and complex and of making unauthorized trades involving index put options connected to the Russell 2000 Index even though he had told the broker that he only wanted up to 25% of his portfolio involved in these. Instead, Watson alleges, Stimpson invested way more of his money in the index put options.

In his securities arbitration case, Watson also alleged breach of fiduciary duty. Now, a FINRA panel has awarded him nearly $275K in compensatory damages, nearly $54K in interest, and other costs.

Stimpson was fired by Allegis last year for not abiding by the firm’s ethics code and policies. According to his BrokerCheck records, he has been named in eight other customer disputes.

Financial Firm News: Hilliard Lyons Must Pay $445K to Elderly Investor, Merrill Lynch Ordered to Pay Vermont $140K After Broker Makes Unauthorized Changes, and FSC Securities Settles with Montana Regulators

Published on: February 27, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

FINRA Panel Orders Hilliard Lyons to Pay Damages to Elderly Client

In a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration case, Hilliard Lyons is ordered to pay 84-year-old Elizabeth Nickens $445K in damages for losses she sustained from alleged churning and unauthorized trading. Nickens claims that advisor Christopher Bennett made transactions without her authorization in her retirement accounts, and her assets were allocated in such a way that were not suitable for her or investment goals.

Nickens, as an older investor, had a low risk tolerance and was more interested in preserving her funds. Yet, according to her attorney, more than half of her average account equity was in four stocks. She lost over $300K.

Hilliard Lyons is accused of not properly supervising the trades. The firm and Bennett deny the senior financial fraud allegations.
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Ex-Wells Fargo Broker Barred for Alleged $180K Elder Financial Fraud

Published on: February 26, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has barred Jeffrey Palish, an ex-Wells Fargo (WFC) broker in the wake of allegations of senior investor fraud. The regulator is accusing him of stealing over $180K from an elderly client with no plans or means of paying her back.

Palish was let go by the firm last year after an internal probe found that he had made misstatements about these transactions. He was arrested last week in New Jersey and charged with theft by deception involving over $75K.

According to prosecutors, Palish may have stolen at least $600K from elderly clients and failed to pay back a $100K loan from two clients. NorthJersey.com reports that Palish took clients’ money by selling their stock holdings and putting the funds from those sales into a bank account in which he deposited checks from clients. He also is accused of making more than three dozen unauthorized wire transfers of about $300K in total to pay his credit card bills.

FINRA Awards more than $4M to Elderly Investors Bilked by Ex-First Allied Securities Broker

Published on: January 19, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel has awarded over $4.3M to investors in their elder financial fraud case against former First Allied Securities broker Anthony Diaz. The plaintiffs contend that he invested their retirement funds in high risk private placement investments that were unsuitable for them. They are alleging inadequate supervision, misrepresentation and omissions, unsuitability, fraud, and other violations.

Diaz is considered to be a rogue broker by the regulator, who barred him in 2015. He not only worked at 11 firms win 14 years, but also he appeared to have no problem getting another job whenever he was let go from a previous. Diaz’s BrokerCheck profile shows that he is named in 53 customer dispute and regulatory disclosures.

The arbitration award to the investors is over $1M in compensatory damages, more than $413K in legal fees, and $2.9M in punitive damages. They settled with First Allied Securities last year.

FINRA Cases: Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker and Former Western International Securities Broker Are Barred, Questar Capital Ordered to Pay $797K Restitution Over Mutual Fund Sales, and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is Accused of Not Sending Millions of Margin Disclosures

Published on: January 16, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Two Brokers Barred After Not Appearing at FINRA Hearings

Guillermo Valladolid, an ex-Morgan Stanley (MS) broker, has been barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. According to the regulator, Valladolid did not show up at a hearing into whether, according to InvestmentNews, he “sold investments away from his employer” and neglected to disclose certain outside business activities.

Morgan Stanley terminated Vallodolid’s employment. Previous to that he worked with Merrill Lynch.

In a different FINRA case, the regulator barred another broker, Bradley C. Mascho, also after he did not appear at his hearing. Some of Mascho’s activities while at Western International Securities had come under question. The firm fired him last month, which is also when the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges against Mascho and Dawn Bennett of the Bennett Group Financial and DJP Holdings. Mascho was CFO of the latter.

SEC Accuses Broker of Giving Some Customers Preferential IPO Access in Exchange for Over $1M in Kickbacks

Published on: January 2, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The SEC has filed a case accusing broker Brian Hirsch of illegally receiving over $1M in secret kickbacks in return for giving some customers favored access to “lucrative” initial public offerings. The regulators said that these customers made money because of the special treatment. Meantime, prosecutors in New Jersey have filed a parallel criminal case against Hirsch.

According to the SEC, Hirsch, who worked at two broker-dealers, disregarded policies and procedures and made “long-running” deals with specific customers, granted them bigger allocations of some of the public offerings that the firms were marketing. Advisor Hub reports that these two brokerage firms were Barclays Capital (BARC) and Stifel (SF).

As part of the deal, contends the regulator, a customer named Joseph Spera and another customer paid Hirsch cash kickbacks that were equivalent to a percentage of the trading profits they made for the offering stock allocated to them. Hirsch is accused of giving the two customers “preferential access to hundreds of IPOS and secondary public offerings.” These customers purportedly would usually sell their stock quickly so that they could make a “substantial profit.” This was at the expense of the firms’ other customers and the interests of issuers in raising funds from long-term investors.

Securities Fraud: FINRA Bars Two Ex-Wells Fargo Brokers Over Unsuitable Securities Sales, Pennsylvania-Registered Representative is Accused of $2.35M Ponzi Scam, and Digital Display Ad Company Allegedly Stole Over $2M from Retail Investors

Published on: December 13, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Wells Fargo Brokers Barred Over Unsuitable Energy Securities Sales
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has barred brokers Charles Lynch and Charles Frieda for making unsuitable recommendations to investors, resulting in substantial financial losses to the latter. Lynch and Frieda are former Wells Fargo (WFC) representatives who were based in Southern California. Both Lynch and Frida were fired from the firm. Previous to working at Wells Fargo, both men worked at Citigroup (C) and Morgan Stanley (MS).

According to the self-regulatory organization, between 11/12 and 10/15, the former brokers recommended an investment strategy revolving around certain speculative energy stocks to over 50 customers. These securities were volatile. Because investors became very concentrated in these energy securities, they were placed at risk of substantial losses.

FINRA contends that the two brokers did not do a proper job of making sure these investments were suitable for the customers to whom they were recommending these securities.

Westport Capital Markets LLC is Accused of Undisclosed Markups as Investors Lose Over $1M

Published on: December 11, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The SEC has filed civil charges against Westport Capital Markets LLC and principal Christopher E. McClure. The Connecticut-based, dually registered brokerage firm and investment adviser and its principal are accused of defrauding clients, costing them over $1M in losses.

According to the regulator’s securities fraud complaint, the investment advisory firm and McClure invested clients’ money in risky securities on numerous occasions, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed mark-ups that went to Westport even as the clients lost more than $1M. The broker-dealer would allegedly buy securities from underwriters at a reduced rate and later re-sell them to its own clients at the full public offering price while keeping the difference.

Westport and McClure are accused of making false and misleading representations to clients about the compensation that the financial firm received from their accounts. Also, the brokerage firm is accused of receiving 12b-1 fees, which are mutual fund distribution fees, when clients’ money was placed in certain mutual fund share classes and again not telling clients about these fees. The SEC said that the fees created a conflict. McClure and Westport allegedly invested clients in mutual fund shares that charged these fees even when less expensive shares that didn’t carry the fees could have been purchased instead.

10 Four Points Capital Partners Customers Lose $574K Because of Alleged Broker Fraud

Published on: December 6, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against two brokers for allegedly carrying out broker fraud in the form of unsuitable trades that made them money while costing investors. According to the regulator’s complaint, Zachary Berkey and Daniel Fischer engaged in in-and-out trading—a strategy that was “almost certain” to cause customers losses.

As a result, contends the SEC, 10 Four Points Capital Partners LLC customers collectively lost almost $574K while Fischer earned $175K in commissions and Berkey earned $106K. Four Points is a Texas LLC headquartered in NYC.

The Commission accused the two brokers of churning customer accounts while hiding material information from clients, including facts about commissions, fees, and other costs. Because the securities were only held for a brief time and the costs for these transactions were “significant,” the investments’ share prices would have had to go up substantially for even a “minimal profit” to be made.

Ex- Investment Adviser is Accused of Defrauding Retirees of Over $1.85M

Published on: November 13, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against a former broker and investment adviser. According to the regulator’s investment adviser fraud complaint, Jay Costa Kelter defrauded three retirees of over $1.856M. Meantime, prosecutors in Tennessee have filed a criminal case against him related to one of the clients. A federal grand jury indicted him on multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, and security fraud.

The SEC contends that from 9/2013 through last year, Kelter, who owns insurance and investment firm BEK Consulting Partners LLC (known in the past as Kelter & Company LLC), made misrepresentations to the older investors, whom he’d persuaded in 2013 to transfer their accounts to TD Ameritrade (AMTD) after he left his former employer. The former broker had access to their new accounts and was authorized to keep giving them investment advice and make trades on their behalf while, meantime, he allegedly used the funds for himself.

For example, Kelter is accused of misappropriating $1.467M from a 75-year-old widow who was nearly totally financial dependent on her investments by engaging in fraud and forgery. The SEC’s complaint said that the client had told him she was only interested in making conservative investments.