Our investment fraud lawyers at Sheperd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm) represent a number of investors who have suffered losses from investing in GPB private placements that were sold to them by brokerage firms and their brokers.
Kalos Capital and Ameriprise Financial (AMP) are of these broker-dealers. Our broker fraud attorneys have filed a brokerage firm misconduct claim against them on our client’s behalf. This is not our first GPB investor fraud claim involving Kalos Capital.
GPB Investor Fraud Claim: Kalos Capital, Ameriprise Financial & Ex-Broker Gary Imel Investigated
In this latest GPB investment fraud claim, our client, who is from Washington State is seeking up to $500K from Kalos, Ameriprise and their ex-broker Gary Imel.
Her case will be heard before a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) panel. Imel was a registered Kalos Capital broker from 2014-2017 and then an Ameriprise broker until 2018. Both are periods during which time our client with him as her financial professional.
The claimant, who is a senior investor in her late 60s, is an inexperienced investor. In 2015, as she approached retirement, she looked to Imel who represented himself as someone who specialized in conservative investments.
The former Kalos and Ameriprise Financial broker is accused of promising our client that he would keep her assets, including a SEP IRA. He told her she could expect a return on principal from her investments. Instead, Imel placed our clients’ funds in unsuitable investments that were higher risk.
These included real estate investment trusts (REITs) like Northstar Income II, as well as private placements like the following GPB funds:
- GPB Automotive Portfolio Limited
- GPB Holdings II
Both of these funds have since seen massive drops in value, leading to major losses for many investors across the United States.
A GPB private placement is not the type of investment that is suitable for a retiree who is not wanting to take on too much risk. Yet, Imel recommended the GPB funds to our client, who has since lost her principal.
Now, she is claiming not just unsuitable recommendations but also omissions, misrepresentations, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, inadequate supervisions, fraud and other wrongdoing.
Failure To Supervise
Our client is pursuing her GPB investor fraud claim against Kalos Capital and Ameriprise because the broker-dealers should have properly supervised Imel to prevent him from recommending and selling so many inappropriate investments to her.
Not only that but also both firms profited from these investments while she herself suffered significant financial losses.
Imel’s BrokerCheck record notes that he worked in the industry for 43 years. Previous to Ameriprise and Kalos, he was a registered broker with Madison Avenue Securities, ING Financial Partners, MML Investors Services, NY Life Securities, Suncan Equity Services, SMA Equities, and NY Life Variable Contracts.
GPB Ponzi Scam
Accused of operating a complex and massive $1.8B Ponzi scam, GPB Capital Holdings has raised $1.5B from investors since 2013.
It is named in a slew of fraud complaints by claimants seeking to recover their money from the broker-dealers and their registered representatives that sold them the private placements and earned over $160M in commissions as a result.
GPB Capital, meanwhile, remains the subject of FINRA and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probes, as well as a criminal investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Recently, GPB’s CCO Michael Cohn was charged with obstruction and accused of stealing information from its former employer, the SEC, about the investigation into the asset management firm and sharing it with other company executives.
GPB Investor Fraud Claims
SSEK Law Firm has been hard at work fighting to help investors who were harmed from investing in GPB private placements to recover their losses. Already, we have filed a number of FINRA arbitration claims for our clients against a number of broker-dealers.
Contact our GPB investment fraud attorneys today if a broker from Ameriprise or Kalos Capital, including Gary Imel recommended that you invest in a GPB fund and you lost money as a result.