Selling Away

Former UBS Broker Robert Turner in Waco, Texas May Have Stolen Over $17M From Customers

Published on: May 24, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-UBS Financial Services Broker Robert Turner Investigated For Stealing Clients’ Money

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) is looking into claims of losses involving former UBS Financial Services broker Robert Earl Turner. Although no longer a registered broker or investment advisor, Turner worked in the industry for 31 years. He spent 25 years at UBS until October 2021. He is accused of stealing money from customers in a scam that allegedly lasted for over two decades.

In late 2021, Turner and his wife joined Stifel, Nicolaus, & Co. She is still with that firm, although Robert left after just several months in early 2022. While at UBS Financial Services, they reportedly oversaw $900M in customer assets and made about $3M in yearly revenue.

Barred Wells Fargo Broker Scott Reed Accused of Selling Investments Without Firm’s Permission

Published on: January 25, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A former customer of Scott Reed, an ex-Wells Fargo Clearing Services broker, has filed a FINRA arbitration claim. The investor claims Reed made them invest more than $2M in unapproved investments. This resulted in the broker making hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed commissions.

FINRA barred Scott Reed in February 2021 for allegedly taking part in $3.5M of private securities transactions. These transactions were made without notifying or getting the approval of his member firm first. This practice is known as selling away.

The self-regulatory organization (SRO) said that Reed solicited individuals to invest in securities from a software and development company. Not only did he facilitate these sales, but he also personally invested $200K in the company.

Suspended Delta Securities Broker Sean Casterline Allegedly Sold Away to Customers

Published on: January 24, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Florida Financial Advisor Sold Tuscan Gardens Growth and Income Fund Securities

Did you lose money while working with Delta Securities Company registered representative, Sean Donovan Casterline? If so, you may have grounds for pursuing damages. The longtime Florida financial advisor was suspended by FINRA in December 2021.

In FINRA’s action, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) accused Casterline of taking part in unauthorized private securities transactions through his alleged soliciting of about $1.5M in securities to 20 investors.

Ex-SagePoint Financial Broker Grant Birkley Faces $2.3M of Investor Fraud Claims

Published on: August 20, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Barred SagePoint Financial Broker Accused of Selling Away

Grant Christopher Birkley, an ex-SagePoint Financial stockbroker, is named in two pending customer disputes. He is accused of selling investment products that were not approved by his firm.

SagePoint Financial fired him last August after he admitted to making referrals to an external manager without the broker-dealer’s approval. In June, FINRA barred Birkley indefinitely after he declined to provide documents and information related to the self-regulatory authority’s probe into his termination by SagePoint.

Former Principal Securities Broker John Krohn Involved in $39M in Investor Fraud Claims

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

FINRA Suspended Ex-Iowa Stockbroker in 2018 For Selling Away

John Michael Krohn, a former Iowa broker with Principal Securities, is named in three customer disputes in which the claimants are collectively pursuing over $39.2M in damages for losses they sustained while working with him.

The investors contend that Krohn engaged in selling away, which involves offering them investments that his then-brokerage firm of record never approved. They are pursuing damages against Principal Securities, where Krohn was a registered representative for 20 years.

Customers Accuse Ex-Fortune Financial Services Broker Jonathan Freeze of Alternative Investment Fraud

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

Former Canonsburg, Pennsylvania Stockbroker Faces Selling Away Allegations

Three years after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) barred him, Jonathan Douglas Freeze remains the subject of eight pending customer disputes. Most of these investor claims accuse him of selling away and investing customers’ funds in Alternative Investment Holdings, a North Carolina real estate and investment holdings company, without Fortune Financial Services’ authorization.

Freeze worked 21 years in the industry. He also previously was a broker for Summit Brokerage Services, LPL Financial (LPLA), Lincoln Financial Advisors, and The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company.

Investor Sues Kestra Investment Services For IRA Losses Involving Barred Broker James Daughtry

Published on: May 29, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Alabama Retiree Lost Retirement Savings To Broker Fraud and Negligence

An investor in Alabama has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration complaint against Kestra Investment Services, Inc. for retirement losses that she suffered while working with the now-former broker, James Daughtry.

The firm fired Daughtry earlier this year around the same time that FINRA barred him indefinitely after he refused to testify in the self-regulatory (SRO)’s probe into allegations that he engaged in potentially fraudulent and unauthorized transactions in customers’ accounts.

Another Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker is Barred by FINRA

Published on: October 16, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has barred another former Morgan Stanley (MS) broker. John Halsey Buck III consented to the industry bar after he did not provide the information and documents that the self-regulatory organization asked for related to its probe into his alleged involvement in unapproved private securities sales. Buck, who has over 50 years experience in the industry, was let go by the brokerage firm earlier this year.

Morgan Stanley reportedly fired him in the wake of disclosure-related issues, including those involving private investments that did not involve the broker-dealer. According to InvestmentNews, the allegations against Buck have to do with “selling away.” This is a practice that happens when a stockbroker, financial adviser, or a registered representative solicits the sale of or sells securities that his or her brokerage firm does not offer or hold. Broker-dealers usually have a list of approved products that its brokers are allowed to sell to firm clients.

Buck had been with the industry since 1965. Previous to working with Morgan Stanley, he was a registered broker with UBS Financial Services (UBS), Wachovia Securities, Prudential Securities Incorporated, Loeb Partners, and Hornblower, Weeks, Noyes & Trask.

Securities Fraud: Ex-BB & T Securities is Suspended Over Unauthorized Private Securities Sales, Fired Merrill Lynch Broker is Fined for Accepting Customer Gifts, Louisiana Investment Adviser is Convicted in $9.5M Scheme, & Jury Issues First Criminal Municipal Bond Issuance-Related Conviction

Published on: March 10, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

FINRA Suspends Broker For Accepting $105K in Gifts

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has suspended a former Merrill Lynch broker, Adam C. Smith, from the securities industry for a year. The former Merrill Lynch broker, who was fired from the firm, will pay a $10K fine.

According to the self-regulatory organization, while at Merrill Lynch, Smith and his wife accepted $26K in checks from a couple whom he represented. The money was to help fund the education of Smith’s children. When one of the clients passed away, the remaining spouse gifted Smith and his wife another $53K, again to pay for their kids’ education. Smith received $26K from other clients.

Although he is settling, the ex-Merrill Lynch broker is not denying or admitting to FINRA’s findings.

Broker Michael Donnelly Gets Prison Time for Elder Financial Fraud

Published on: April 13, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Michael Donnelly, formerly the president of Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. and its brokerage firm, has been sentenced to 99-months behind bars. Donnelly pleaded guilty to securities fraud and wire fraud that involved stealing money from older investors and unsophisticated investors.

From ’07 through the middle of ’14, Donnelly, a Florida broker, bilked clients and used the funds for his own expenses, including rent, private school tuition for his kids, golf club memberships, and car payments.

He gave investors bogus trade confirmations and account statements to keep the fraud going and claimed that their investments were doing well. In addition to his time in prison, Donnelly is permanently barred from the industry, has to pay $1.99M in restitution, and will serve three years of supervised release. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against Donnelly.

In other senior fraud news, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced that since launching its Securities Helpline for Seniors last year, customers have received back over $1.25m because of calls about possible elder fraud. Already, the hotline has answered 4,000 phone calls from people of all ages.