Broker Misconduct

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigating Claims Involving Ex-Hilltop Securities Broker Richard Cagle

Published on: October 16, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

SSEK Investigates Richard Cagle

If you are an investor who suffered losses while working with former Hilltop Securities Independent Network broker Richard Earl Cagle, please contact our broker fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm) today. With 28 years in the industry, Cagle, who was a Texas broker, was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) a few months ago after he refused to appear and testify in the self-regulatory authority’s probe into allegations that he made unsuitable investment recommendations and mismarked customer order tickets.

It was just earlier this year that Hilltop Securities fired Cagle. His BrokerCheck record shows two settled customer disputes, both alleging unsuitable recommendations. One case was settled for $20K. The other broker fraud case was settled for $230K.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Ex-Wells Fargo Broker Leonard Kinsman

Published on: October 15, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Our investor fraud lawyers at SSEK Law Firm are looking into claims involving former Wells Fargo (WFC) broker Leonard Kinsman (Kinsman). Kinsman currently still faces at least two customer complaints that were brought before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), one claim involves a New Jersey widow and mother of three who is accusing him of defrauding her family of their life savings.

Until July 2019, Kinsman belonged to the Wells Fargo Financial Network of brokers that operate independently, even as they use the bank’s compliance software and investment systems. No details have been provided into how or why he is no longer affiliated with the firm’s broker network.

According to the New York Post, the widow began working with Kinsman in 2012 when he was still a Merrill Lynch broker and after her husband had passed away. She requested that Kinsman place her money, a $2.27M life insurance settlement, in conservative, diversified investments that promoted long-term growth so she could support her family off the interest.

Three Ex-Morgan Stanley Brokers Accused of Broker Misconduct

Published on: October 7, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Misconduct Accusations Against Ex-Morgan Stanley Brokers

Broker Misconduct Case #1: John Tillotson

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has suspended ex-Morgan Stanley broker, John Tillotson, for 15 days and ordered him to pay a $5K fine after finding that he impersonated five clients during phone calls to a mutual fund company. This was so he could move their retirement money to the firm.

SSEK Law Firm Investigates Ex-Broker James T. Flynn and Voya Financial Advisors

Published on: October 3, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

If you are an investor who suffered financial losses while working with former Voya Financial Advisors (VOYA) broker James T. Flynn, please contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm) today.

Our broker fraud lawyers are investigating claims brought by the former clients of Mr. Flynn while he was a registered broker with Voya Financial from 2013 to 2017 and previous to that while he worked with other financial firms. Voya fired him in 2017.

With 18 years of experience in the industry, Flynn, who was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in 2018 after he failed to respond to the self-regulatory organization (SRO)’s request for more information in a probe involving him, has forty disclosures on his BrokerCheck record.

Fraudulent Binary Options Led to Tens of Millions of Dollars in Investor Losses

Published on: October 1, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Three non-US citizens, Raz Beserglik, Gil Beserglik, and Kai Christian Peterson, are now facing US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges accusing them of causing investors, including retirees, of losing tens of millions of dollars through the sale of fraudulent binary options via their binary options brokers Morton Finance, Bloombex Options, and Starling Capital. The brokerage firm are also defendants in the regulator’s case.

According to SEC Enforcement Davison Associate Director Melissa Hodgman, investors were promised fast profits. Instead, most of them lost money, with some of them losing all of their life savings.

The regulator’s complaint said that through call centers that were run like boiler rooms in Italy and Germany, salespeople contacted prospective clients and used high pressure tactics to get them to buy speculative binary options. As a result, from 2012 through 2016, investors from the US and elsewhere gave Bloombex Options over $80M to invest. Morton Finance, meantime, had gotten over 8,000 investors to deposit more than $14.75M by 2016. Over 2,700 investors deposited almost three million through Starling Capital. The brokers continued to accept investor funds at least through 2017.

SSEK Investigates Stockbroker Eddie Lyons of Raymond James & Associates

Published on: September 30, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

SSEK Investigates Eddie Lyons Of Raymond James & Associates

Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas (“SSEK”), a law firm specializing in representing wronged investors, is looking into allegations against Eddie Lyons as noted by FINRA. Lyons was a financial advisor registered with Raymond James & Associates, Inc. He was terminated, in part, due to allegations by his clients that he engaged in unauthorized trading of accounts.

FINRA then initiated an investigation in November 2017. The inquiry was based on several complaints from customers. The allegations ran the gambit of bad acts. These include, but may not be limited to, unauthorized trading.

JP Morgan Settles Broker Fraud Claim for $14M

Published on: September 20, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

JP Morgan Securities (JPM) agreed to pay $14M to a claimant who accused its former broker Antoine Souma of misconduct that allegedly led to $20M in net losses. According to Advisor Hub, Souma, who is based in Los Angeles, was named in Barron’s 2016 Top 100 Financial Adviser list. He is currently a Morgan Stanley (MS) broker. He “vehemently denies” the allegations made in this investor fraud claim.

The claimant, Ziad Gandour, is the founder of industrial construction management company TI Capital. He accused Souma of the following:

Fraud

Investor Files GPB Private Placement Claim Against Kalos Capital

Published on: September 16, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Tennessee investor is pursuing a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against Kalos Capital, Inc. and its broker Martin Hunter McFarlin for the more than $100K in losses that he sustained from investing in non-traded real estate investment trusts (non-traded REITs) and the GPB Capital Automotive Portfolio. Now, the claimant is alleging omissions, misrepresentations, gross lack of supervision, unsuitable recommendations, and due diligence failures. Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm) is representing this individual in his case against Kalos and McFarlin.

Our client is a divorced dad, a small business owner, and an unsophisticated investor, which is why he turned to McFarlin and Kalos several years ago to help him invest his retirement money for him and his family. During seminars and company Christmas parties, the claimant was told that private placements were safe alternative investments.

Private Placements Are Risky Investments

Investor’s GPB Private Placement Claim Against Arkadios Capital Gets FINRA Hearing

Published on: September 13, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

An investor who filed an arbitration claim against Arkadios Capital for selling her GPB Capital Holdings private placements now has a hearing date set before a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) panel: April 20, 2020. This is one of the first GPB investor fraud case brought against a brokerage firm to get a hearing scheduled before one of the self-regulatory authority’s (SRO) arbitrators. Our broker fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm) are representing this claimant.

The investor, who is a woman from the greater Atlanta, Georgia area, is claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement fund losses after her financial adviser, an Arkadios broker, recommended the GPB securities to her. While with the broker-dealer, her portfolio became especially concentrated in private placements, including the GPB Holdings II Limited Partnership. Now, the claimant is contending that this GPB investment, in particular, was an extremely unsuitable recommendation for her, especially since it involved her IRA from which no losses can be offset.

Our client maintains that she was not aware of the risks involved in the investment strategy used by her Arkadios broker. She is alleging unsuitable recommendations, omissions, misrepresentations, gross negligence, due diligence failures, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and inadequate supervision. The investor is seeking damages, interest, and costs.

Ex-Cetera Broker from Texas is Accused of Defrauding Investors

Published on: September 13, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

If former Cetera Advisers broker James Christopher Hayne has handled your investments and you suffered investment losses that you suspect were due to fraud or negligence, you should speak with an experienced stockbroker fraud law firm right away. Over the years, Hayne, a Texas broker, has been named in numerous customer arbitration claims brought before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

With 17 years in the industry, Hayne, previously was a registered broker with Questar Capital, First Allied Securities, Edward Jones, and Morgan Stanley. His BrokerCheck record shows nine customer disputes, five of which were settled.

Most recently, there was the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority claim brought against Hayne by a customer that was resolved for $325K. The former client had requested $100K in damages. In that investor fraud case, Hayne was accused of violating both the Texas Securities Act and California Corporate Securities Law, breaching contractual duties to the claimant, negligence in the way he handled the latter’s account, and causing the customer to suffer investment losses.