Disabled and Elder Financial Abuse Lawyers

When Seniors and Disabled Investors Are Defrauded By Their Brokers 

SEC Charges Ex-Centaurus Broker Joseph Michael Todd For Misappropriating $3M From Customers

If you are an older or disabled investor who was the victim of broker fraud, you may be able to sue the broker-dealer for damages by contacting our disabled and elder financial abuse lawyers. Even if the financial firm was unaware of their financial advisor’s misconduct, if they failed to properly supervise this registered representative and their activities in your account, the firm could be held liable.

On July 12, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed civil fraud charges against former Centaurus Financial stockbroker Joseph Michael Todd. The regulator is accusing him of stealing about $3M from 20 customers between August 2016 and at least November 2022. His alleged victims included seniors, retirees, and disabled investors.

While the SEC did not name the broker-dealer in its complaint, according to Todd’s CRD on BrokerCheck he was a Centaurus registered representative during the period at issue.  The broker-dealer fired him a year ago.

Todd has settled the SEC charges without denying or admitting to the allegations. This includes consenting to the industry bar and paying disgorgement and civil penalties. He was suspended by FINRA last year. Todd’s record shows multiple customer disputes seeking damages for alleged misappropriation, unauthorized trading, unsuitability, and theft.

Older and Disabled Investors Remain Vulnerable Targets To Bad Brokers

Unfortunately, there are brokers that seek to take advantage of investors, especially older seniors and disabled customers. As a matter of fact, many of the broker fraud cases we represent are on behalf of elderly retirees whose retirement funds were depleted due to broker fraud and negligence. Because of disabled investors’ impairments or other health issues, bad brokers may also try to get away with stealing money from them.

Defrauding disabled and older retirees is an issue of such concern that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) even has a rule in place addressing the matter. The self-regulatory organization (SRO) refers to this as the financial exploitation of “specified adults,” which includes seniors aged 65 and older and persons aged 18 and above with certain impairments that render them unable to protect their own interests. Unfortunately, there are brokers who will still try to defraud them.

How Can Our Skilled Broker-Dealer Negligence Lawyers Help?

If you or someone you love was the victim of broker misconduct, it is important that you explore your legal options right away with seasoned brokerage firm arbitration attorneys. At Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (investorlawyers.com), we help you determine whether the investment losses warrant grounds for a legal claim.

Should we agree to work together, we can conduct discovery into exactly how the losses came about and what claims to make in the FINRA lawsuit against the broker and their broker-dealer. We will file the investor claim in arbitration and provide seasoned securities law representation before the panel of arbitrators.

Our trusted disabled and elder financial abuse lawyers know how devastating it can be to suffer serious losses and the impact this can have on a victim’s life and their ability to care for themselves. For over 30 years, we have dedicated our professional lives exclusively to fighting for investors against brokerage firms whose negligence or misconduct caused them financial harm. We have recovered a collective many millions of dollars for thousands of our clients.

Contact Us:

Call (800) 259-9010 today to speak to one of our disabled and elder financial abuse lawyers or fill out our contact form online.