Broker Kenneth Barroga Allegedly Sold GPB Private Placements

Watsonville, CA Financial Advisor is Also Barroga & Associates President

If you are an investor who has suffered significant losses while working with Crown Capital Securities broker, Kenneth James Barroga, our California securities fraud attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) want to talk to you.

Barroga, who also is the head of Barroga & Associates out of Watsonville, CA, may have sold GPB private placements to customers. He is both a registered stockbroker and investment advisor.

GPB Capital Holdings, an alternative asset firm, is under investigation for allegedly operating a more than $1.8B Ponzi scam. Crown Capital Securities is one of the dozens of broker-dealers that collectively earned tens of millions of dollars in commissions for selling GPB private placements to thousands of investors.

Barroga, who has worked 28 years in the industry, has five disclosures on his BrokerCheck. All of them are customer disputes.

To schedule your free case consultation with SSEK Law Firm, contact one of our California broker fraud attorneys by calling (619) 550-4847 today.

Latest Investor Claims Involving Barroga Resulted in Six-Figure Settlement and Award

In the most recent customer dispute on Kenneth Barroga’s BrokerCheck, dated June 22, 2020, the investor alleged unsuitability, misrepresentations and omissions, breach of fiduciary duty, and lack of due diligence related to alternative investment products. The claim was settled for $165K.

An earlier investor dispute in 2018 accused Barroga of negligence, misrepresentations and unsuitability related to the real estate investment trusts (REITs) that he recommended. A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration award was granted for $160K. Another customer that was a party to this dispute received a $40K settlement.

Much earlier customer disputes involving Barroga include:

6/2004: The claimant alleged that bonds did not return the yields that they were told they could look forward to. This is known as making misrepresentations. The case was settled for $16K.
12/2002: Another misrepresentation claim was settled for $115K.
5/2002: This investor claim, accusing Barroga of not following instructions, was denied.

During his 28 years in the industry, Kenneth Barroga has worked at a number of firms including:

LPL Financial
Wells Fargo Investments
Chase Investment Services
WAMU Investments
Marketing One Securities

Although Barroga’s BrokerCheck doesn’t specifically mention GPB investments, he may have unsuitably sold them to Crown Capital Securities customers. If so, then their GPB private placement investments are likely worthless.

GPB Private Placements & Ponzi Scam

Unfortunately, broker-dealers and their registered representatives appeared to have failed to conduct the proper due diligence into GPB Capital Holdings, which primarily invests in auto dealerships and waste management, and its many funds.

In the wake of allegations, investigations were carried out by FINRA, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) among others. As well as a number of lawsuits and other probes, many retail investors found themselves with these private placements that plunged in value or may not be worth anything at all.

Our GPB private placement fraud attorneys have been going after the broker-dealers that sold these investments to their customers. We’ve submitted numerous FINRA arbitration claims on behalf of investors and are dedicated to fighting for their financial recovery.

In California, call our GPB investment fraud lawyers at (619) 550-4847. For investors that are based elsewhere nationwide, call (800) 259-9010 today.