The securities and investment lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against broker David James Mura (Mura). According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck records for Mura, there are at least 14 disclosures on Mura’s record including customer complaints, multiple regulatory actions, and one employment separation from Aegis Capital Corp. The customer complaints against Mira allege securities law violations that claim unsuitable investments, excessive trading or “churning”, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty.
The most recent customer complaint against Mura was in August 2014, alleging unsuitable investments, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract. This claim occurring during Mura’s employment at J.P. Turner & Company. The customer alleged losses of $268,000.00 and the claim settled for the amount of $55,000.00.
In July 2013, another customer complaint was filed with FINRA alleging that Mura of unsuitable investments in private placement exchange-traded funds, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract. The statement of claim did not specify an amount and the settled for $1,100,000.00.
In June 2013, Mura was subject to a customer compliant for the alleged unauthorized trading, excessive trading or churning, excessive commission, and misrepresentation during his time at Aegis Capital Corp. The alleged damages claimed was $983,997.00. The complaint was settled in 2014 for the amount of $395,000.00.
Mura was discharged by Aegis Capital Corp in September 2012 due to failure to fully disclose of an ongoing investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding outside business entities. Mura was barred from FINRA in August 2013 for failing to response to FINRA’s request for information. The SEC instituted a Cease-and-Desist order against Mura for allegedly acting as an unregistered broker when soliciting investors in promissory notes.
Mura entered the securities industry in 1992. These are the following firms Mura has been associated with throughout his career:
• H.J. Meyers & Co., Inc. (May 1992 – October 1998)
• Schneider Securities, Inc. (November 1998 – September 2002)
• J.P. Turner & Company, LLC (September 2002 – April 2011)
• Aegis Capital Corp. (April 2011 – October 2012)
Unauthorized trading occurs when a broker sells securities without the prior authority from the investor. This activity is strictly prohibited and is regulated by FINRA. NYSE Rule 408(a) and FINRA Rules 2510(b) require all brokers to fulfill an inherent obligation by first discussing trades with investors before execution of the trades. These rules explicitly prohibit brokers from making discretionary trades in customers’ non-discretionary accounts. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also found that unauthorized trading to be of fraudulent nature since obtaining permission from the investor to initiate a trade and maintaining disclosure of continuous activities are of utmost importance
Excessive Trading is a similar claim and under FINRA’s suitability rule it involves just the first two elements of the churning claim. When evaluating a churning claim, certain commonly used measures and ratios assist in determining whether churning tactics were used by the broker. These ratios look at how frequently the account is turned over plus whether or not the expenses incurred in the account made it unreasonable that the investor could reasonably profit from the activity.
Gana Weinstein LLP’s securities fraud attorneys represent investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts due to claims of fraud and negligence. 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.