Ex-Broker and First Allied Securities Accused in $1M Investor Fraud Case
Masood Husain Azad, a former Texas-based broker, is now the subject of an over $1M investor fraud claim. Also known as Mike Azad, he was fired by First Allied Securities in 2017. Now, First Allied Securities is a respondent in this Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration case, which was brought by a customer.
At Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm), our broker fraud lawyers are offering a free, no obligation case assessment to former customers of Masood Azad who suffered investment losses that they suspect may be due to fraud or negligence. Contact SSEK Law Firm today.
Materially False and Misleading Statements and a Failure to Supervise
According to the claimant in this particular investor fraud claim, the ex-First Allied Securities broker made statements that were materially false and misleading to get customers to participate in certain investments, including a company that belonged to Azad’s son-in-law. Azad also allegedly lied about his own investments and losses.
First Allied Securities is accused of failing to properly supervise Azad and his investment recommendations, some of which involved securities that the firm did not offer or hold. When a financial representative makes such recommendations, this is known as selling away.
After First Allied Securities fired Azad, FINRA conducted its own probe. He failed to participate in the investigation and consented to a permanent bar from the industry.
According to Azad’s BrokerCheck record, he worked 12 years in the industry–10 years at Voya Financial and two years at First Allied Securities.
Mike Azad is not the only First Allied Securities broker recently accused of fraud. Here are a few more:
- Last month, FINRA barred ex-First Allied broker Shlomo Strugano for making allegedly inappropriate recommendations involving real estate investment trusts (REITs). SSEK Law Firm has also been speaking with former customers of Strugano to determine whether they have grounds for filing their own customer disputes against the firm and its former broker.
- Current First Allied Securities broker Robert Steven Weissbein is named in a pending $250K customer arbitration claim for alleged breach of fiduciary duty, making unsuitable recommendations, and negligence.
- Last year, Douglas Keith Hyer, who is still a First Allied Securities broker, settled an investor claim for $15K related to allegedly unsuitable investment recommendations. He also has been named in previous customer complaints from when he was a broker at other firms. With 50 years in the industry, Hyer has worked at 11 broker-dealers, including Raymond James Financial, Linsco Private Ledger, Royal Alliance Associates, Cambridge Investment Research, and others.
Brokerage Firm Negligence Attorneys
Broker-dealers are supposed to properly supervise their financial representatives. When a failure to do this allows for fraud or negligence to occur— leading to customer losses— investors may have grounds for pursuing a claim against the firm.
SSEK Law Firm has gone up against the largest firms on Wall Street and successfully helped thousands of investors with their claims. Contact our brokerage firm misconduct attorneys today if you sustained losses while Masood Azad or any other First Allied Securities broker was your financial representative.