Older Investors Remain Among The Most Vulnerable Targets of Broker Exploitation
Our Elder Financial Abuse Attorney Teams Are Investigating Claims of Losses Involving Ex-Mutual Securities Broker Julie Darrah
Financial exploitation of older people remains a huge problem, and such crimes frequently go unreported because victims are reluctant to speak out. Those who commit elder financial abuse may be friends, family, acquaintances, and even trusted stockbrokers and investment advisers who should have been looking out for their client’s best interests and not taking advantage of them.
Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (investorlawyers.com) Elder Financial Abuse Attorney teams represent senior investors and their families who have suffered losses due to elder financial exploitation by a stockbroker or investment adviser. Unfortunately, such incidents happen more often than you would like to think and, in many cases, to devastating, life-altering consequences.
One of the financial advisors we are currently investigating is ex-Mutual Securities broker Julie Darrah, who is also a former registered investment adviser with Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services in California and the co-founder of Vivid Financial Management. In October 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed civil charges accusing her of embezzling $2.25 million from at least nine elderly advisory clients. Even Wealth Enhancement is suing her for allegedly stealing from older clients. She purportedly did this by becoming a trustee for their trusts, serving as a bank account signatory, or obtaining power of attorney over their accounts or assets while allegedly stealing their money between 2016 to 2023. She also previously was a National Planning Corp. broker during the period at issue.
Can A Brokerage Firm Be Held Liable For Your Elder Financial Abuse Losses?
Broker-dealers must properly supervise their registered representatives and prevent or stop any type of misconduct from happening. When they fail to do any of this and investors end up losing money, the firm could find themselves liable for the investors’ losses.
Our trusted elder financial abuse lawyers have represented thousands of senior investors over the years against broker-dealers and their registered representatives. This usually has entailed filing a broker fraud lawsuit for our clients.
You should know that even if there are regulatory or criminal charges against your financial advisor, those cases won’t necessarily result in you recouping your investments, which is why you want to explore your legal options and if you do have grounds for a claim, file your own broker misappropriation lawsuit seeking damages.
While there are steps you can take to protect your money—skilled elder law lawyers at our affiliate firm can help you plan for you or your loved one’s future and help you identify warning signs of elder financial abuse—you should know that it is not your fault when a financial professional exploit’s your trust and steals your money.
Why Work With Our Skilled Elder Financial Abuse Attorney Firm?
Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas exclusively represent investors in their financial recovery. This is the only kind of law we practice. We are well-versed in elder financial abuse and offer quality, compassionate, and personalized securities representation to older investors and their families.
We understand how devastating losing your savings and other assets can be, especially later in life, which is why, should we decide to work together, we will fight for you. More than 90% of our clients have received full or partial financial recovery with our help.
How To Contact Us:
If you invested your money through former California financial advisor Julie Darrah or any other broker, call (800) 259-9010 to request your free, no-obligation case consultation.