Securities Lawyers Blog
The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP are currently investigating claims that advisor Gerald Dewes (Dewes), working out of East Amherst, New York, has been barred by a financial regulator concerning allegations that he engaged in the sales of private securities among other allegations. Dewes was barred by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) concerning his private securities sales conduct. According to BrokerCheck records, Dewes was formerly registered with FINRA member firm Cadaret, Grant & Co., Inc. (Cadaret Grant). If you have been a victim of Dewes’ alleged misconduct our firm may be able to assist you in recovering funds.
In March 2020 FINRA found that Dewes consented to the sanctions and a bar from them industry as well as to the entry of findings that he refused to appear for testimony before FINRA during the course of an investigation into his potential participation in undisclosed private securities transactions and outside business activities. In addition, Cadaret Grant terminated Dewes alleging that he sold away from the firm by soliciting client investments into an undisclosed outside business activity called Elite Roasters, Inc. (Elite Roasters) for which he was an officer and director.
According to Dewes’ publicly disclosed records his outside business activities include Sunbridge Management.
Our law firm has significant experience bringing cases on behalf of defrauded victims when their advisors engage in receiving loans from clients or selling securities sales through OBAs. The sale of unapproved investment products – is a practice known in the industry as “selling away” – a serious violation of the securities laws. In the industry the term selling away refers to when a financial advisor solicits investments in companies, promissory notes, or other securities that are not pre-approved by the broker’s affiliated firm. Sometimes those investments have some legitimacy but often times these types of investments can end up being Ponzi schemes or the advisor can be engaging in the conversion of funds.
However, federal securities laws and the FINRA rules require firms to monitor and supervise its employees in order to detect and prevent brokers from offering investments in this fashion. In order to properly supervise their brokers each firm is required to have procedures in order to monitor the activities of each advisor’s activities and interaction with the public. Selling away misconduct often occurs where brokerage firms either fail to put in place a reasonable supervisory system or fail to actually implement that system. Supervisory failures allow brokers to engage in unsupervised misconduct that can include all manner improper conduct including selling away.
In cases of selling away the investor is unaware that the advisor’s investments are improper. In many of these cases the investor will not learn that the broker’s activities were wrongful until after the investment scheme is publicized, the broker is fired or charged by law enforcement, or stops returning client calls altogether.
Dewes entered the securities industry in 1994. From August 2014 through November 2019 Dewes was registered with Cadaret Grant out of the firm’s East Amherst, New York office location.
Investors who have suffered losses are encouraged to contact us at (800) 810-4262 for consultation. Investors may be able recover their losses through securities arbitration. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are experienced in representing investors in cases of selling away and brokerage firms failure to supervise their representatives. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.