Securities Lawyers Blog
The investment lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating the regulatory action brought by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against George Oldoerp (Oldoerp). According to BrokerCheck records, Oldoerp was suspended by FINRA in May 2018. In addition, Oldoerp has been subject to one pending customer complaint and a tax lien.
In November 2017, a customer alleged that from August 2003 to November 2017, Oldoerp recommended the customer to invest in illiquid securities in oil and gas, equipment leasing, Business Development Companies(BDCs), and non-traded Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which were unsuitable investments for the customer. The customer is requesting $500,000 in damages. This complaint is currently still pending.
In April 2018, Oldoerp refused to respond to information requested by FINRA regarding the pending customer dispute. Thus, Oldoerp is undergoing suspension indefinitely until he requests termination of the suspension. If he does not respond by July 16 to FINRA’s Notice of Suspension, he will automatically be barred from the industry.
Our firm often handles cases involving direct participation products, Non-Traded REITs, oil and gas offerings, BDCs, equipment leasing products, and other alternative investments. These products are almost always unsuitable for investors. In addition, the brokers who sell them are paid additional commission in order to hype inferior quality investments which provides a perverse incentives by brokers to create an artificial market for products that no honest advisor would sell.
According to studies, non-traded REITs have historically have underperformed even safe benchmarks, like U.S. treasury bonds – meaning that non-traded REITs provide paltry investment returns considering the risk an investor takes. Alternative investment products like oil and gas partnerships, REITs, and equipment leasing programs are rarely, if ever, appropriate for investors due to their high costs, illiquidity, high risks, and huge redemption charges of the products, if they can be redeemed at all. Investors often fail to understand that they have lost money until many years after agreeing to the investment.
Unfortunately, due to the high commissions brokers earn on these products they sell them to investors who cannot profit from them. These products have become so popular among brokers without providing any benefit to investors that many states now limit investors from investing more than 10% of their liquid assets in Non-Traded REITs and BDCs. Many states impose these limitations because its understood that that they provide virtually no benefit to investors in relationship to their risks.
Oldoerp entered the securities industry in 1989. From 2002 to 2016, Oldoerp was registered with H. Beck, Inc. From 1995 to 2001 and 1990 to 1991, Oldoerp was registered with Diversified Securities, Incorporated. From 1991 to 1995, Oldoerp was registered with Painewebber Incorporated. From 1989 to 1990, Oldoerp was registered with Blinder, Robinson & Co., Inc.
Gana Weinstein LLP’s investment fraud attorneys represent investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts due to claims of unsuitability and misrepresentation. The majority of these claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.