Articles Tagged with IBN Financial Services

Currently financial advisor Timothy Evans (Evans), currently employed by brokerage firm IBN Financial Services, Inc. has been subject to at least 2 disclosable events. These events include one customer complaint, one tax lien. According to a BrokerCheck reports most of the recent customer complaints concern either corporate debt securities or alternative investments such as direct participation products (DPPs) like business development companies (BDCs), non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), oil & gas programs, annuities, and private placements.  The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP have represented hundreds of investors who suffered losses caused by these types of high risk, low reward products.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on January 29, 2025.

Without admitting or denying the findings, Evans and his member firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that they failed to reasonably supervise a registered representative’s recommendations of alternative investments, including a non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) to two retail customers. The findings stated that the firm and Evans failed to reasonably supervise the registered representative’s recommendations of speculative alternative investments to the retail customers where the sales were not suitable or in the best interests of the customers given the customers’ investment profiles. Evans was the representative’s direct business line supervisor and was responsible for reviewing for supervisory approval applications to purchase alternative investments submitted by the representative. In January 2019, the representative recommended five illiquid, non-traded alternative investments totaling $400,000 to the first customer. The firm and Evans approved the sales notwithstanding the presence of red flags suggesting that the sales were unsuitable. Specifically, the firm and Evans were aware from the application documents that the customer was 71 years old, retired, had a moderate risk tolerance, and had a net worth, not including primary residence, of $851,889. The firm and Evans nevertheless approved the five sales, which resulted in the customer having a 47% concentration in speculative alternative investments. Subsequently, the representative recommended 11 sales of illiquid, non-traded alternative investments totaling $457,000 to a second customer. This included $90,000 of the non-traded REIT. Again, the firm and Evans approved the sales notwithstanding the presence of red flags suggesting that the sales were not in the customer’s best interest. Specifically, IBN and Evans were aware from the application documents that the customer had an annual income of no more than $25,000, had a moderate risk tolerance, and had a net worth, not including primary residence, of $587,438. The firm and Evans nevertheless approved the sales, which resulted in the customer having a 77% concentration in speculative alternative investments, including 15% in the REIT. Despite red flags that the recommendations were unsuitable for, and not in the best interest of, respectively, the two customers, the firm and Evans did not conduct any further review or take any further steps before approving the transactions, such as evaluating whether the representative had good cause for the recommendations given the concentration levels at issue as required by the firm’s WSPs.

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Angelo Piccone (Piccone), previously associated with IBN Financial Services, Inc., has at least 2 disclosable events. These events include one customer complaint, one tax lien, alleging that Piccone recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on January 29, 2025.

Without admitting or denying the findings, Piccone consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he willfully violated Reg BI by recommending 11 sales of speculative, illiquid alternative investments totaling $457,000 to a retail customer. The finding stated that the customer had a moderate risk tolerance, an annual income of no more than $25,000, and a net worth, not including primary residence, of $587,438. The customer’s investment objectives were preservation of capital, current income, and funding retirement, and they did not include speculation. Piccone earned $23,905.81 in commission in connection with his recommendations of these alternative investments to the customer. As a result of Piccone’s recommendations, the customer became 77% concentrated in alternative investments, including a 15% concentration in speculative bonds. Piccone’s recommendations were not in the customer’s best interest based on her investment profile, including her moderate risk tolerance. The findings also stated that Piccone used his personal mobile device to exchange text messages with the customer to conduct securities business. In one of those communications, Piccone made an unbalanced, promissory and misleading statement to the customer regarding the prospects for recovery related to one of her investments. Because Piccone used an unapproved channel for business-related communications, the firm was unable to preserve those communications as required.

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Robert Thomas (Thomas), previously associated with IBN Financial Services, Inc., has at least one disclosable event. These events include one tax lien, alleging that Thomas recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on September 24, 2024.

Respondent Thomas failed to respond to FINRA requests for information.

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Vincent Camarda (Camarda), previously associated with IBN Financial Services, Inc., has at least 16 disclosable events. These events include 16 customer complaints, alleging that Camarda recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $3,600,000.00 on November 15, 2024.

Claimants allege: breach of fiduciary duty; failure to supervise; negligence and gross negligence; and, misrepresentations and omissions. The alleged activity occurred from december 2019 to february 2023.

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Anthony Diaz (Diaz), previously associated with IBN Financial Services, Inc., has at least one disclosable event. These events include one customer complaint, alleging that Diaz recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $100,000.00 on November 25, 2024.

Claim alleges: breach of fiduciary duty; failure to supervise; negligence and gross negligence; and, misrepresentations and omissions. The alleged activity took place between 2014 and 2016.

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker James Mcarthur (Mcarthur), previously associated with IBN Financial Services, Inc., has at least 15 disclosable events. These events include 15 customer complaints, alleging that Mcarthur recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $3,600,000.00 on November 15, 2024.

Claimants allege: breach of fiduciary duty; failure to supervise; negligence and gross negligence; and, misrepresentations and omissions. The alleged activity occurred from December 2019 to February 2023.

shutterstock_128856874The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently sanctioned and barred broker Brian Exford (Exford) concerning allegations Exford refused to appear for on-the-record testimony requested by FINRA in connection with an investigation into possible private securities transactions (also referred to as “selling away”). According to FINRA BrokerCheck records Exford was disclosed outside business activities include Ives Hill Retirement. It is unclear whether FINRA’s investigation concerns this particular outside business activity. In addition, there is one customer complaint pending alleging unsuitable investments in a secondary market pension.

ln November 2002, Exford first became registered with FINRA as an Investment Company Products and Variable Contracts Representative (Series 6). From August 2009 through October 2012, Exford was registered with IBN Financial Services, Inc. (IBN Financial). Thereafter, from November 2012 to March 2015, Exford was registered through State Farm VP Management Corp.

According to FINRA, in January, 2014, the agency began investigating whether Exford had engaged in a private securities transaction. As part of its investigation, on January 13, 2015, FINRA sent a request to Exford’s attorney for on-the-record testimony. According to FINRA, Exford’s attorney stated on a call with FINRA staff on January 30, 2015, that he will not appear for on-the-record testimony at any time. Consequently, Exford was barred by FINRA.

shutterstock_54385804The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) brought a complaint against broker Anthony Diaz (Diaz) concerning a host of industry violations. Diaz entered the securities industry in January 2000 and has been registered with eleven different firms over fourteen years. Diaz is currently employed by IBN Financial Services, Inc., (IBN Financial) since September 2012.

Diaz has a long and troubled history of securities related violations and misconduct. There have been at least 14 customer complaints filed against Diaz, he has been subject to 5 firm terminations, and has two judgments. FINRA also found that Diaz was fired or permitted to resign by six of the eleven member firms with which he was registered for. On or about November 21, 2002, Edward Jones fired Diaz for providing inaccurate information during a supervisory review, was terminated by Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. because it was “no longer comfortable supervising”, was permitted to resign on April 1, 2009, by First Allied Securities, Inc. because he had a history of customer complaints and administrative infractions., was fired by SII Investments, Inc. for unauthorized trading, was fired by Kovack Securities, Inc. because of complaints alleging unauthorized trades, and finally was fired by Sandlapper Securities, LLC for soliciting sales of variable annuities without being properly appointed by the issuing company.

FINRA alleged that from March 2010, through May 2011, Diaz induced approximately eighty customers to enter into variable annuity exchanges causing significant surrender charges without a reasonable basis for recommending these exchanges. FINRA found that each customer invested in the same fund, had the same subaccount allocation, and had the same rider selected. FINRA alleged that Diaz recommended the annuity exchanges without having an understanding of the features of the new product and used the same three invalid justifications for nearly all of these exchanges.

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