Cetera Advisors Broker Roger Owens Suspended

Fired Cetera Advisors Broker Accused Of Unauthorized Securities Sales

Our stockbroker fraud attorneys are speaking to former clients of former Cetera Advisors LLC broker, Roger Lee Owens that sustained substantial investment losses while working with him. Contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) today to schedule your free, no-obligation case consultation.

Cetera Advisors fired Roger Owens last year for allegedly taking part in unapproved private securities transactions. A few months later, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) suspended Owens for a year, through August 2020, for the same reasons.

More specifically, he allegedly solicited investors to buy $1,170,000 of promissory notes involving what was purported to be a real estate investment fund. The fund later filed for bankruptcy protection. The sales, however, allowed the former Cetera Advisors broker to make $59,471 in commissions. He consented to FINRA’s sanctions but did not admit or deny the self-regulatory authority’s findings.

According to Owen’s BrokerCheck record, he has been the subject of four customer disputes, three of which are pending. Allegations in the investor claims made against him include:

Breach of fiduciary duty
Breach of contract
Negligence
Common law fraud

With 25 years in the industry, Owens has been a broker at four other firms: Legacy Financial Services, Uvest Financial Services, Fortis Investors, and Banner Financial Services.

SEC Accuses Cetera Advisors LLC Of $10M Investor Fraud

It was just last year that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed civil charges accusing Cetera Advisors of defrauding retail customers of $10M in fees and commissions that were unwarranted.

The regulator contends that customers’ monies were placed in costlier mutual fund share classes when equally comparable ones that didn’t charge these fees were available to them. Not long after bringing its case against Cetera Advisors, the SEC added Cetera Financial Group as a defendant to this civil fraud lawsuit. The Commission is now seeking $21M.

SSEK Investigates Cetera Advisors

Roger Lee Owens is not the only former Cetera Advisors broker that our broker fraud lawyers at SSEK Law Firm are investigating. We are looking into investor claims involving ex-Cetera Advisors representative, Stephen Carver, whom the broker-dealer also fired. Carver is already the subject of three customer disputes and he has 11 disclosures on his record.

Last year, SSEK Law Firm filed a claim for investors accusing Cetera Investment Services and financial advisor, Smansa Chu of overconcentrating their accounts in alternative investment private placements including non-public real estate investment trusts (REITs) and Hospital Investor Trust/ Arc Hospitality Trust.

We also have been looking into customer complaints involving GPB investments, which Cetera Advisors brokers sold to customers. GPB Capital Holdings is now accused of operating a $1.8B Ponzi scam, and Cetera is one of dozens of broker-dealers that, along with their brokers, made over $160M in commissions from the sales.

Already, our GPB investor fraud lawyers have filed FINRA arbitration claims against a number of broker firms that sold GPB private placements including Kalos Capital, Arkadios Capital and Ameriprise.

Investor Fraud Attorneys

If you suffered losses while working with a Cetera broker and you suspect that those losses may be due to negligence or fraud, contact SSEK Law Firm today. Broker-dealers can be held liable for the negligent or fraudulent actions of their brokers, even if they are no longer with the firm.