Investor Filed $150K GPB Private Placement Claim Against Lee Duckworth

Three Pending FINRA Arbitration Claims Accuse Triad Advisors Broker of Unsuitability

Lee Duckworth, the CEO of investment advisory firm Capital Wealth Management and a Triad Advisors stockbroker, was recently named in three Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claims accusing him of making unsuitable investment recommendations to customers.

At least one of the disputes involves private placements from GPB Capital Holdings, an alternative asset firm accused of running a more than $1.5B Ponzi scam. Duckworth is a West Warwick, Rhode Island broker and investment advisor.

According to Lee Duckworth’s BrokerCheck record, he has been with Capital Wealth Management since 2011 and a Triad Advisors broker since 2012. Triad is one of the dozens of broker-dealers whose registered representatives sold GPB private placements to customers.

Already, Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) has filed a number of FINRA arbitration claims against Triad Advisors and other firms on behalf of investors.

Customers Claim Alternative Investment Losses in GPB Private Placements

Lee Duckworth has worked in the securities industry for 29 years. Other financial firms he was registered with previous to Triad Advisors and Capital Wealth Management include Capital Management, Robert W. Baird, Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, and two other firms that are not named in his registration history.

Over the years, four customer disputes have been filed naming Duckworth, including one from 2006 that was denied. The other three are the ones still pending and they were submitted earlier this year, including:

March 2020: The claimant contends he invested $150K in the GPB Holdings I fund in 2015 and that this was unsuitable for his portfolio. He is seeking that much in damages.
June 2020: This FINRA arbitration claim alleges that an unsuitable investment strategy was used on the claimant’s funds between 2012 and 2015.
July 2020: Another claimant filed an unsuitability claim involving three alternative investments she bought in 2015.

Brokers have been known to recommend alternative investments to customers as a way to diversify a portfolio and potentially make greater returns. However, alternative investments tend to be riskier than more conservative investments, such as bonds and mutual funds, as well as less transparent.

It is the duty of broker-dealers and their registered representatives to conduct the proper due diligence into any investment, including alternative investments, to make sure that not only are they suitable for a customer, but also that there is nothing fraudulent going on.

Unfortunately, the approximately 60 broker-dealers who made about $165M in commissions from selling private placements in one of the many GPB funds failed to conduct this proper due diligence.

GPB Capital Holdings remains under investigation by FINRA, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), state regulators, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and others. It is also the defendant in multiple class action securities fraud lawsuits.

GPB Investment Fraud Attorneys

If you suffered losses in GPB private placements or any other investments that were recommended or sold to you by Triad Advisors broker, Lee Duckworth, contact SSEK Law Firm today. Our securities fraud lawyers have spent the last two years going after the broker-dealers and their registered representatives that sold these alternative investments to customers.