Broker Fraud

SSEK Investigates Woodbury Financial Broker Daryl Serizawa Over GPB Capital Private Placements

Published on: January 21, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Woodbury Financial Services Representative Accused Of GPB Private Placements Sales

If you are an investor who was sold GPB Capital private placements by Woodbury Financial Services broker Daryl Serizawa, our broker fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) want to talk to you.

Serizawa is one of the hundreds of financial representatives who sold GPB funds to customers. These brokers and their firms earned more than $160M in commissions. Now, GPB Capital Holdings, an alternative asset firm that invests in auto dealers and waste management, is accused of operating a $1.8B Ponzi scam.

SSEK Investigates Investment Fraud Claims Involving Rogue Broker Anthony Diaz

Published on: January 20, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Barred Broker Named In Almost 50 Customer Complaints

Anthony Diaz, a former Pennsylvania stockbroker and investment advisor who has been the subject of dozens of customer complaints, is finally on trial for fraud. Jury selection is slated to start this week.

Our investor lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) are speaking with former investors who worked with Diaz at one of the 11 brokerage firms where he was registered including Edward Jones, Raymond James and First Allied Securities to help determine if they have grounds for a broker fraud claim.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigate Claims Involving Barred National Planning Broker William Glaser

Published on: January 17, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

National Planning Ordered to pay $2.6M to Older Investor

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) panel is ordering National Planning Corp. to pay a customer, who is in her eighties, $2.6M after her former stockbroker, William August Glaser, sold her unsuitable investments. The investments including fraudulent promissory notes and non-traded REITs (real estate investment trusts). $1M of the award is for punitive damages.

William Glaser, who was fired by National Planning and barred by FINRA in 2017, is currently in prison for wire fraud.

Oppenheimer To Pay $3.8M To Customers For Unit Investment Trust Rollover Fees

Published on: January 15, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

FINRA Orders Oppenheimer To Pay $3.8M

Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY) must pay over $3.8M in restitution to customers who may have had to pay excess sales fees for the early rollovers of their United Investment Trusts (UITs). The order comes from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and includes an $800K fine for not reasonably supervising these early UIT rollovers.

The self-regulatory organization (SRO) contends that from 1/2011 to 12/2015 of the $6.4B of United Investment Trust transactions that Oppenheimer executed, $753.9M of these were early rollovers.

SSEK Explores Investor Claims Involving Ex-Cetera Advisors Broker Stephen Carver

Published on: January 13, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former LifeMark Securities Broker Gets Banned By FINRA

If you are an investor who suffered losses while Stephen Carver handled your investments and wish to file an investor claim, our broker misconduct attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) want to talk to you.

Carver, who most recently was a LifeMark Securities broker and before that a Cetera Advisors financial representative — Cetera and LifeMark both fired him — was just barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker John Cahill

Published on: January 10, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

FINRA Bars Former Morgan Stanley Representative

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has barred former Morgan Stanley broker, John Joseph Cahill. The ex-registered representative, who was fired from Janney Montgomery Scott early last year, is accused of potentially converting and/or misappropriating an elderly client’s funds while he was at Morgan Stanley.

John Cahill Is Accused of Elder Investor Fraud

Kristian Finfrock, Founder of Retirement Income Strategies, is the subject of Investor Complaints Over GPB Capital and Other Esoteric Investments

Published on: January 8, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Another Kalos Capital Broker Sold GPB Investments To Investors

Once again, our GPB investment lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) have filed an investor fraud lawsuit against Kalos Capital and one of its brokers, Kristian Finfrock.

In this latest broker fraud case, the Claimants are a retired couple who contend that Kalos Capital broker and investment advisor, Kristian Finfrock, pushed them into placing $750K of their life savings into alternative investments including non-traded real estate investment trusts (Non-traded REITs), annuity contracts, and GPB Capital private placements.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Ex-Royal Alliance Broker Gary Basralian

Published on: January 7, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Royal Alliance Broker Stole Money From Older Women With Disabilities

If you suffered losses while working with former Royal Alliance Associates broker, Gary Basralian, our broker fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) want to talk to you.

Gary Basralian, whom the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) barred in 2018, is currently in prison for fraud, including bilking older women who suffered from disabilities. Recently, Royal Alliance, an Advisor Group firm, agreed to pay $250K to settle a related regulatory case brought by the New Jersey Bureau of Securities for not properly supervising Basralian.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Ex-Triad Advisors Broker Michael Sievert For Selling GPB Private Placements

Published on: December 27, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Michael Sievert is Now an Arkadios Capital Broker

If you were an investor who suffered losses from GPB Capital Holdings investments that were sold to you by broker Michael Sievert, please contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm) today.

Sievert is currently an Arkadios Capital broker. Already, he is the subject of two customer disputes involving GPB private placements from his time when he was a Triad Advisors broker.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Claims Involving Ex-Woodbury Financial Services Broker Robert Hayes Hoffman

Published on: December 26, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Barred Woodbury Financial Services Broker Accused of Misrepresentations and Fraud

If you are an investor who lost money while Robert Hayes Hoffman was your financial representative, our broker misconduct lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) would like to talk to you. Hoffman was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in 2017 and the Indiana Securities Division in 2018. He was a Woodbury Financial Services broker from 2006 and 2017. After that, for less than a year, he was a Thurston, Springer, Miller, Herd & Titak broker until the FINRA bar.

Hoffman’s BrokerCheck record notes that he has already been the subject of at least three customer disputes. One claim, alleging unsuitability, misrepresentations, breach of fiduciary duty, and selling away, was settled for $250K. Another customer dispute, which made similar allegations, including churning, was settled for over $1M. A third dispute, which accused Hoffman of recommending a variable annuity that was not only unsuitable for the claimant but also resulted in tax consequences for her, was settled for nearly $48K.