Financial Firms

SSEK Law Firm Continues to Investigate Broker-Dealers That Sold Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Products

Published on: June 16, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Northstar (Bermuda) Investors Likely to Only Recover Losses By Filing FINRA Arbitration Claims

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) is continuing to speak with investors of Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) who suffered significant losses because their broker failed to conduct the proper due diligence when they recommended these products.

Already, we have filed a number of Financial Industry Regulatory Arbitration (FINRA) claims against many of the broker-dealers whose registered representatives sold these offshore investments.

Truist Investment Services Broker Stephen Berrocal Recommended Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda)

Published on: June 11, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Truist Investment Services Financial Advisor Named in $1.5M of Pending Customer Disputes

Stephen Berrocal, a Truist Investment Services broker and investment advisor based out of Coral Gables, Florida, is named in three active customer disputes. At least one of them appears to involve the allegedly unsuitable recommendation of Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda). The claimant in that case is seeking $500K in damages.

Truist Investment Services registered representatives sold Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) products to customers, many of whom have now lost money in the wake of the company going bankrupt and into liquidation. Its owner, Greg Lindberg, is in prison. He is suspected of having funneled funds from Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) to his other companies.

Former Cetera Advisors Network Broker David Rockwell Sentenced To Prison For Fraud

Published on: June 9, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Fort Meyers, Florida Financial Advisor Misappropriated $1.02M From Investors

A former Cetera Advisors Network registered representative, David Aaron Rockwell, has been sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for multiple counts of bank fraud and wire fraud. According to the US Justice Department, Rockwell defrauded investors of over $1.02M and used their money to pay his credit card debt and purchase a house.

Court documents state that while overseeing retirement and investment clients for customers, Rockwell began to take investors’ funds in 2017. He allegedly defrauded a federally insured bank by applying for $700K in credit lines under a client’s name without that person’s knowledge or consent. Rockwell is also accused of convincing another client to invest $400K in low-income housing and instead, using the money to cover his debt and buy the home.

Japanese Customers of Bankoh Investment Services Broker Yoko Farias Suffer Six-Figure Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Losses

Published on: June 7, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Japanese Couple Seeks Up To $500K in Northstar (Bermuda) Damages

A Japanese couple has filed an investor claim against Bank of Hawaii subsidiary, Bankoh Investment Services, Inc. for losses they suffered in Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda). The off-shore investment was recommended to them by broker Yoko Farias, who has been under scrutiny for some time for selling Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) investment products to clients.

The claimants are an older couple who live in Japan where they set up a basic checking account at Bank of Hawaii’s branch in Tokyo. These inexperienced investors were introduced to Farias, who recommended that they invest their money differently.

Ex-Cetera Advisors Broker Mark Barrand Accused of Making Unsuitable Investment Recommendations

Published on: June 3, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Denver Financial Advisor Mark Barrand Named in Pending Customer Disputes

Mark Allen Barrand, an Ameriprise Financial broker based in Denver, has nine customer claims on his BrokerCheck record. The most recent one, brought in February 2021, was from his time as a Cetera Advisors registered representative.

Barrand has worked 14 years in the industry, and he is also an investment adviser. Other firms where he used to be registered include Legacy Advisor Services and Legacy Financial Services.

Florida Retiree Pursues Six-Figure Energy 11 Investor Fraud Claim Against David Lerner Associates

Published on: June 1, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Florida Energy 11 Investor Alleges Unsuitability, Misrepresentations and Omissions

A senior investor says that a David Lerner Associates broker unsuitably recommended that she invest in Energy 11, LP. This non-public limited partnership has been exclusively marketed and sold by the broker-dealer to its clients, costing many of them significant investment losses. Many of these customers should never have been advised to purchase this oil and natural gas private placement.

Our Energy 11 investment fraud attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) are representing this retiree in her Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim to pursue damages. If you are an investor who suffered losses in Energy 11 LP, contact SSEK Law Firm at (813) 560-2992 in Florida or, throughout the US, call (800) 259-9010 today.

FINRA Suspends Ex-MML Investors Services Broker Adam Belardino

Published on: May 31, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

New York Financial Adviser Has Multiple Customer Disputes on Record

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has suspended ex-MML Investors Services LLC broker Adam Gerard Belardino. The suspension runs from February 2021 until Belardino either provides the information that the self-regulatory organization (SRO) has requested or the suspension becomes a permanent bar.

Belardino, who is also a former registered investment advisor, has several disclosures on his BrokerCheck, including six customer disputes. MML Investors Services fired Belardino in 2019. The firm, in its Form U5, said that this was in connection to a customer complaint accusing the then-broker of excessive trading, making misrepresentations, and other negligence and broker misconduct.

Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Investors Seek Up to $500K in Damages from SunTrust Bank Division, Truist Investment Services

Published on: May 28, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Colombian Claimants Allege Negligence, Misrepresentations, and Failure to Supervise

Two investors from Bogota, Colombia are pursuing a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against Truist Investment Services for the losses they suffered in Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda). The claimants, who are from the same family, had looked to the brokerage firm, which is affiliated with SunTrust Bank, to keep their assets safe.

As longtime SunTrust Bank clients with an account in Florida, the investors were not interested in taking on any undue risk and were mostly invested in bank products, including money markets. Yet, Truist Investment Services recommended that the claimants invest more than $125K in Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda).

Ex-Wells Fargo Broker Ramon Herrera is Sentenced For Defrauding 40 Investors

Published on: May 24, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

New Jersey Financial Advisor’s Victims Included Older Investors Who Spoke Spanish

Ramon Arturo Herrera, a former Wells Fargo (WFC) registered representative, is sentenced to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The former New Jersey financial advisor pleaded guilty to wire fraud for bilking approximately 40 clients of $450K.

Herrera worked five years in the industry. The entire time, he was a Wells Fargo broker until 2018. That is the same year that Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) barred him from the industry. The following year, Herrera was expelled by the New Jersey Bureau of Securities.

Latin American Investor Files Six-Figure Northstar (Bermuda) Fraud Claim Against Truist Investment Services

Published on: May 19, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former SunTrust Advisory Services Investment Adviser Luisa Gonzales Unsuitably Recommended Northstar Bermuda Products

A senior investor has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim seeking up to $500K in damages against Truist Investment Services for losses he suffered in Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda). The claimant is a retired Catholic Priest who lives in Bogota, Colombia, and was a longtime client of SunTrust Bank.

Truist Investment Services is SunTrust’s brokerage arm and is based in the United States. Ex-SunTrust Advisory Services investment adviser, Luisa Gonzales, was this investor’s financial representative.