Securities Lawyers Blog

Advisor Douglas Donnelly Sanctioned Over Recommending Private Placements

May 17, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

Our firm is investigating claims made by various regulators and brokerage firms including the State of Washington against broker Douglas Donnelly (Donnelly), formerly associated with brokerage firms Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC (Wells Fargo), Northwest Asset Management (Northwest), and Dinosaur Financial Group, L.L.C. (Dinosaur Financial). The allegations revolve around the offering of investments outside of the brokerage firm –a practice known in the industry as “selling away”. Often times brokers who engage in this practice use outside businesses in order to market their securities. According to The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) brokercheck records Donnelly has been subject to two customer complaints, two regulatory events, and two terminations for cause. Donnelly has also disclosed outside business activities including Passing Time Winery and Concert Wealth Management.

One of the regulatory events involves claims by the State of Washington alleging that in June 2010, Donnelly began to invest $200,000 in a private placement. Thereafter, Washington alleged that Donnelly sent information about the private placement to potential investors from his Wells Fargo email account. It was also alleged that Donnelly held meetings at his Wells Fargo office to introduce his Wells Fargo clients to the company’s personnel and provided disclosure information about the company to potential investors. Washington found that Donnelly introduced approximately 40 individuals to the private placement who invested approximately $4,000,000. Washington found that Wells Fargo investigated and terminated Donnelly for introducing firm clients to the private placement without written approval.

Donnelly entered the securities industry in 1988. From July 2003 until March 2012 Donnelly was associated with Wells Fargo. Finally, from April 2013 until May 2016 Donnelly was associated with Dinosaur Financial out of the firm’s Seattle, Washington office location.

FINRA Bars John Hudnall Over Non-Traded REIT Transactions

May 17, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

Customers have filed complaints and The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently barred broker John Hudnall (Hudnall) – formerly with U.S. BanCorp Investments, Inc. (U.S. BanCorp). The securities attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investing the allegations against Hudnall including unsuitable investments among other claims. According to brokercheck records Hudnall has been subject to six customer complaints and one criminal matter. Many of the complaints involve direct participation products (DPPs) and variable annuities such as non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other alternative investments.

In FINRA’s complaint against Hudnall it was alleged that he participated in an undisclosed and unapproved private securities transaction by selling a REIT investment to an elderly customer which he split into two simultaneous transactions of $40,000 and $360,000. FINRA alleged that Hudnall did this to circumvent his firm’s supervisory review of such a large transaction of this kind. According to FINRA, the $400,000 REIT investment exceeded the firm’s supervisory thresholds and would have triggered additional supervisory review and likely would have been disapproved. FINRA also alleged that Hudnall made a promotional offer in which he promised to pay certain customers who purchased fixed annuities 1% annual interest if they held their fixed annuities for at least a year, when in fact this offer was not part of the fixed annuity product that he was selling.

Our firm has represented many clients in illiquid alternative investments products. All of these investments come with high costs and have historically underperformed even safe benchmarks, like U.S. treasury bonds. For example, products like oil and gas partnerships, REITs, and other alternative investments are only appropriate for a narrow band of investors under certain conditions due to the high costs, illiquidity, and huge redemption charges of the products, if they can be redeemed at all. However, due to the high commissions brokers earn on these products they sell them to investors who cannot profit from them and have created a large market for a failed product. Further, investor often fail to understand that they have lost money in these illiquid investments until many years after investing. In sum, for all of their costs and risks, investors in these programs are in no way additionally compensated for the loss of liquidity, risks, or cost.

FINRA Sanctions Broker Paul Alexander For Unauthorized Trading

May 17, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

Our securities fraud attorneys are investigating customer complaints and a recent regulatory action filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against Paul Alexander (Alexander) formerly associated with Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (Raymond James), alleging Alexander engaged in a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, unauthorized trading, breach of fiduciary duty, and securities fraud among other claims.

In November 2016 FINRA sanctioned Alexander after he consented to the entry of findings that in contravention of his member firm’s policies and procedures, Alexander effected transactions while exercising discretion without prior written authorization in customer accounts and without notifying his brokerage firm to accept the accounts as discretionary.

The most recent customer complaint filed against Alexander was in September 2015 alleging unauthorized trading causing $244,000 in damages. The claim was settled for $95,000.

Richard Cody Under SEC Fraud Investigation For Misleading Client About their Funds

May 14, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

Our firm is investigating claims made by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) against broker Richard Cody (Cody) that involves potentially millions in either stolen client funds or misrepresentations concerning the state of their accounts. Cody is a formerly associated broker with brokerage firms Westminster Financial Securities, Inc. (Westminster), Concorde Investment Services, LLC (Concorde Investment), and IFS Securities (IFS). Cody conducted his business through his advisory firm Boston Investment Partners. According to brokercheck, Cody has been subject to three regulatory events, two investigations, and 15 customer disputes among other disclosures.

The SEC’s complaint lays out an astonishing scheme to defraud investors. The SEC alleged that Cody would tell retired clients that their accounts were flourishing and making money when in fact they were dwindling to near-zero balances. The SEC tells the tale of three clients who were lied to by Cody about their rapidly depleting retirement accounts through monthly deductions that were unsustainable.

Further, to make the scheme work Cody fabricated account statements, told clients they were withdrawing investment gains rather than depleting their principal, and sent a doctored document to indicate that a financial firm was holding an annuity on behalf of one client. Cody’s conduct occurred over a 12 year period in which Cody was registered as a broker with five different independent firms.

FINRA Bars Advisor Michael Babyak Over the Sale of Unapproved Investments

May 13, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

Our firm is investigating claims made by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against broker Michael Babyak (Babyak), formerly associated with brokerage firms LPL Financial LLC (LPL) and Leigh Baldwin & Co., LLC (Leigh Baldwin). According to brokercheck, Babyak consented to the sanction that he participated in private securities transactions involving customers of a member firm without first providing the firm written or oral notice of his activities. FINRA findings stated that Babyak had the customers invest a total of $4,250,000 into a limited liability company that he had created.

Babyak is then alleged to have assisted in wiring funds from the firm’s accounts to the borrower and the limited liability company’s bank account and signed the loan agreement and related security agreement on behalf of the company he created. FINRA alleged that Babyak then caused the company to loan the $4.25 million to a third party for the benefit of his customers. FINRA also discovered that Babyak arranged for the company to use funds repaid from the $4.25 million loan to extend loans on behalf of the customers to two additional borrowers.

The providing of loans or selling of notes and other investments outside of a brokerage firm constitutes impermissible private securities transactions – a practice known in the industry as “selling away”. Often times brokers who engage in this practice use outside businesses in order to market their securities.

Massachusetts Fines LPL Financial and Roger Zullo $3.7 Million Over Annuity Sales

May 13, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

Our firm’s investment attorneys are investigating a complaint filed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Securities Division (Massachusetts) against LPL Financial LLC (LPL) and the firm’s broker Roger Zullo (Zullo) Zullo alleging that Zullo fabricated the financial suitability profiles of numerous LPL clients, selling them scores of large, illiquid, unsuitable, high-commission variable annuities, at substantial upfront profits to himself and LPL.

The State of Massachusetts alleged that over the course of three years Zullo and LPL received more than $1,825,000 in variable annuity commissions alone and 98% of that amount represented commissions from the sale of the same annuity product – the Polaris Platinum III (B Shares) variable annuity. The State found that Zullo bypassed LPL’s paper-thin compliance review process for these sales by fabricating client financial suitability information, such as age and liquid net worth. Further, LPL apparently rewarded Zullo’s fraudulent practices with the honor of being included in LPL’s “Chairman’s Club” for top annuity production.

According to the State LPL was aware that Zullo repeatedly and openly sold only one product, with the same features and the same justifications, to almost every annuity client, and did nothing to stop it. LPL was also alleged to have been aware that Zullo’s clients repeatedly incurring surrender charges and being charged high commission. According to one email from Zullo’s supervisor “It did very much seem to me that he had a pattern of switching everybody out of their annuities every 6 or 7 years and that he was getting commissions over and over again from the same clients.” Massachusetts found that any concerns concerning Zullo’s practices were ignored.

INVESTOR WARNING: Broker Malcolm Segal is the Subject of Multiple Customer Complaints and Regulatory Actions

April 28, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

The securities and investment lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against broker Malcolm Segal (Segal). According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck record, there are at least 11 disclosures on Segal’s record including customer complaints, multiple regulatory actions, and one employment separation from Aegis Capital Corp. The customer complaints against Segal allege misappropriation of customers’ funds, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract.

Throughout his career with Aegis, Segal received number customer complaints:

January 2016: Alleging misappropriation of funds and misrepresentation. The damage amount requested is $135,000.00. This complaint is currently pending.

INVESTOR ALERT: Broker David James Mura Subject To Multiple Customer Complaints

April 25, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

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.

INVESTOR WARNING: Broker Stanley Clayton Niekras Subject to Multiple Complaints by Investors and FINRA

April 25, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

The securities and investment fraud attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating the regulatory complaint filed by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against broker Stanley Clayton Niekras (Niekras). The FINRA regulatory action alleges that Niekras recommended unsuitable variable annuity exchanges in three customers’ accounts. FINRA found that Niekras effected the annuity exchanges to benefit himself at the customers’ expense. Niekras allegedly misrepresented himself to a couple in their 90s claiming $70,000 of fees due for financial planning services. According to BrokerCheck records, Niekras has been subject to eight customer complaints and one regulatory action among other claims.

The FINRA complaint alleges that Niekras made fraudulent misrepresentations to an elderly couple in their 90s to collect more than $70,000 in estate and financial planning fees while associated with the brokerage firm MML Investors Services, LLC. FINRA alleges that Niekras didn’t have an investment advisory or financial planning agreement with the elderly couple, but he billed them for hundreds of hours of time that he supposedly spent working on their “financial future”, work that he claimed to have done over four years knowing he wasn’t entitled to the “estate planning” or “financial planning” fees he charged. In February 2013, he recommended that the children buy a particular variable annuity with the gifted assets, anticipating collecting about $75,000 in commissions from the sales. The claim is currently pending.

The most recent complaint was filed in December 2010 alleging unsuitable variable annuity recommendations in clients account from January 1995 through March 2005 causing over $5,000 in damages. The claim settled for $247,500.00.

Broker Investigation: Claims Against Broker Swan Sihua Shen

April 25, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

The securities lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) against broker Swan Sihua Shen (Shen) also known as Swan Sihua Zhang. According to BrokerCheck records there are at least six disclosures on Shen’s record including customer complaints, multiple regulatory actions, and one employment separation from CUNA Brokerage Services.

The most recent regulatory action against Shen was filed by the Maine office of Securities in October 2016 alleging that she failed to disclose history records so as a result was ordered for heightened supervision for 2 years.

In February 2015, the State of Massachusetts filed a claim against Swan Shen alleging that she repeatedly violated firm policies by copying and pasting client signatures, and altering forms which was precipitated by her termination from CBS in August 2013.