Investor Lawyers Blog

Leo Financial Advisor and Pruco Securities Broker Robert Luley Allegedly Unsuitably Recommended GPB Automotive to Customers

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

Charlotte, NC Advisor Is Named in GPB Private Placement Claims

Robert Leo Luley, a financial advisor based in Charlotte, North Carolina, reportedly marketed and sold investments in GPB Automotive Portfolio from GPB Capital Holdings. The alternative asset firm is accused of running a $1.8B Ponzi scam that allowed brokers and investment advisors to earn over $165M in commissions.

There are several GPB funds, and all of them have lost money. GPB Automotive Portfolio is GPB Capital Holdings’ second-largest fund.

Intrinsic Value Partners Co-Founder and Noble Capital Markets Broker Joseph Hain Faces Misrepresentations Allegations

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

Former Customers of Boca Raton, Florida Financial Advisor Request $700K in Damages

Two investors have filed separate Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claims against Noble Capital Markets registered representative, Joseph Menachem Hain, also known as Joey Hain. Based in Boca Raton, Hain is the broker-dealer’s investment banking director. He also is the co-founder of the advisory firm, Intrinsic Value Partners.

Hain has worked in the industry for 14 years. Other firms where he used to be a broker include Paulson Investment Company, Aegis Capital Corp., Westpark Capital, Tejas Securities Group, Wynston Hill Capital, and Robotti & Co.

Investors Blame UBS Broker and Edinroc Financial Group Head Jose Cornide For Recommending YES Strategy

Published on: October 28, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Florida Financial Advisor is Named in at Least 10 FINRA Cases, Including One $25 Million Claim

If you suffered losses while working with UBS Financial Services (UBS) stockbroker, Jose Manuel Cornide, Jr., you may be able to file a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim for your losses. Cornide, who is based out of Coral Gables in South Florida, is the head of Edinroc Financial Group, which is a UBS private wealth management group.

Jose Cornide is named in multiple FINRA arbitration cases brought by customers for losses they suffered from the firm’s Yield Enhancement Strategy (YES Strategy). They are just some of the UBS clients who were sold on what was supposed to be a low-risk trading strategy that would allow them to earn enhanced yield. Instead, many of these UBS customers are now contending with significant losses.

Another Customer Files REIT Losses Claim Against Frank Briseno III of FSC Securities and Nettworth Financial

Published on: October 26, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Metairie, LA Broker Allegedly Made Unsuitable Recommendations to Retirees

If you suffered serious investment losses from working with FSC Securities Corp. stockbroker and Nettworth Financial investment advisor, Frank Briseno III, you may have grounds for a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim to recover your losses.

Briseno, who is a Metairie, Louisiana broker, also co-ran Nettworth Financial Group with another FSC Securities broker. The New Orleans investment advisory firm, which may no longer be in operation, has been accused by more than two dozen retirees of unsuitably selling them real estate investment trusts (REITs) while generating high commissions.

Ex-SagePoint Financial Broker Troy Baily Sold Future Income Payments Securities to Investors

Published on: October 23, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

FINRA Suspends Nebraska Stockbroker Who Marketed An Alleged $300M Ponzi Scam to Customers

Troy Robert Baily, a former SagePoint Financial broker, has been suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for six months. Baily, who is also a previously registered investment advisor, is based in Nebraska.

The suspension comes in the wake of allegations that Baily took part in unapproved and undisclosed private transactions and persuaded customers to invest in Future Income Payments (FIP), which federal prosecutors now say was a $300M Ponzi scam.

Investors Have Lost Money in RW Holdings NNN Real Estate Investment Trust

Published on: October 19, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Unsuitable Investment Recommendation May Be a Factor in Brokerage Firm Customers’ Losses

Investors in RW Holdings NNN REIT, Inc., a non-traded real estate investment trust formerly called the Rich Uncles NNN REIT, have suffered significant losses this year.

Not only did RW Holdings NNN REIT announce in May 2020 that it was suspending its offering and plans to revise its net asset value (NAV)/share, but also, any NAV and distribution rate would likely be lower in the wake of the impact that COVID-19 is having on the markets. The company pointed to its inability to collect 100% of all contractual rents because of the pandemic as a reason for re-evaluating its distribution rate.

Customers Accuse Ex-Fortune Financial Services Broker Jonathan Freeze of Alternative Investment Fraud

Published on: October 13, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former Canonsburg, Pennsylvania Stockbroker Faces Selling Away Allegations

Three years after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) barred him, Jonathan Douglas Freeze remains the subject of eight pending customer disputes. Most of these investor claims accuse him of selling away and investing customers’ funds in Alternative Investment Holdings, a North Carolina real estate and investment holdings company, without Fortune Financial Services’ authorization.

Freeze worked 21 years in the industry. He also previously was a broker for Summit Brokerage Services, LPL Financial (LPLA), Lincoln Financial Advisors, and The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company.

Brokers Who Sold Vida Longevity Fund Investments May Have Made Misrepresentations and Omissions

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

Investors Lose Money After VLF Hedge Fund Loses Value

If you are someone who has suffered significant losses from investing in the Vida Longevity Fund, LP (VLF), you may have a reason for pursuing an investment fraud case against the broker or financial advisor that sold you this investment.

Unfortunately, this open-ended hedge fund, which is a Delaware limited partnership that invests primarily in longevity-contingent assets, including senior life settlements, has experienced a substantial decline in value. The market turbulence created by COVID-19 earlier this year didn’t help.

Former Benjamin & Jerrold Broker Rand Heckler Faces Elder Financial Fraud and Ponzi Scam Allegations

Published on: October 9, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Rand Heckler of Rand Heckler, Inc. is Now The Subject of SEC and Criminal Fraud Charges

Former stockbroker Rand Allan Heckler of Long Island, New York, is facing US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges accusing him of investor fraud. Heckler, who was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) last year, is also now facing criminal charges alleging that he ran an over $1M Ponzi scam.

Over his 22 years in the securities industry, Rand Heckler worked at 11 broker-dealers. Four of these firms were expelled by FINRA.

Widow Blames David Lerner Associates, Broker Gary Isler For Retirement Losses

Published on: October 7, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Retiree Alleges Overconcentration in Spirit of America Energy Fund

David Lerner Associates and its registered representative, Gary Walter Isler, are once again the subject of a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim. The claimant, an elderly widow, is accusing them of causing her to suffer significant retirement losses by unsuitably overconcentrating her portfolio in the Spirit of America Energy Fund.

This is not the first customer dispute naming Isler, who has been a David Lerner Associates stockbroker for almost 30 years.