Securities Lawyers Blog
According to BrokerCheck records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) former advisor Gary Pevey (Pevey), formerly associated with Mutual Securities, Inc. (Mutual Securities) in Sacramento, California has been accused by his former firm over unapproved securities. In addition, Pevey has one customer complaint on his record.
In February 2018 Mutual Securities terminated Pevey stating that he violated policies concerning private securities transactions.
Thereafter in September 2018 a customer filed a complaint alleging that Pevey engaged in high-risk and fraudulent investments and inadequate supervision causing $171,000 in damages. The claim is currently pending.
At this time it is unclear the nature or scope of the alleged outside business activities (OBAs) and private securities transactions. Pevey’s public disclosures state that the activity was conducted through his Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firm Wealth Design Group. It is unknown the nature of the transactions from public filings.
Often accompanied with either disclosed or undisclosed OBAs is the risk of the sale of unapproved investment products – 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. When advisors convert or misappropriate funds they often created businesses or other vehicles to serve as a cover for the theft 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.
Pevey entered the securities industry in 1991. From March 2011 until February 2018 Pevey was registered with Mutual Securities out of the firm’s Sacramento, California 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.