Securities & Stock Broker Fraud Blog

Finra Fines and Suspends Ex-J.P. Morgan Broker over Unauthorized Trades

April 1, 2021 | Dan Miller

Bull Bear Miller Stern Lawyers – 410-Law-Firm is currently investigating for individuals who may be victims of, and suffered damages and losses, due to stock market and financial abuses such fraud, mutual fund abuses, unsuitable mutual fund investments, failure to supervise, breach of fiduciary duty, overcharging , and unauthorized trading and elder abuse, and past clients of Trevor Rahn, for, among other things, failing to conduct the necessary reasonable diligence to understand the cost implications of a recommended average pricing investment strategy and, as a result, lacked a reasonable basis to recommend the strategy to his customers..

FINRA has fined and suspended a former J.P. Morgan Securities broker in Los Angeles who was previously fired over “improper” trading and whose transactions in one elderly client’s account were highlighted in two articles in “The New York Times.”, according to FINRA documents.

Trevor Rahn CRD#: 2196155, a 26-year brokerage industry veteran, agreed to an 18-month suspension and $10,000 fine over allegations that he structured trades to generate unnecessary commissions and made a number of unauthorized trades in client accounts from January 2014 to September 2018, according to FINRA documents.

Brokers Seek to Vacate $19-Mln Award Due to Napping Arbitrators on Zoom

March 12, 2021 | Dan Miller

Miller Stern Lawyers – 410-Law-Firm is currently investigating for individuals who may be victims of, and suffered damages and losses, due to stock market and financial abuses such fraud, mutual fund abuses, unsuitable mutual fund investments, failure to supervise, breach of fiduciary duty, overcharging , and unauthorized trading and elder abuse.

According to Advisors Hub and other sources, a pair of former J.P. Morgan Securities brokers have asked a court to nullify a high profile $19 million award issued last month by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel.

A motion to vacate in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida was filed alleging that the arbitration process “broke down” over the 43 hearing sessions as the arbitrators dozed off, failed to address a potential conflict and declined to admit an allegedly key piece of video evidence.

Morgan Stanley Potential $5 Million Claim from NBA Star

March 10, 2021 | Dan Miller

Miller Stern Lawyers – 410-Law-Firm is currently investigating for clients of Darryl M. Cohen CRD:2786613 and any individual who may be victims of, and suffered damages and losses, due to stock market and financial abuses such fraud, mutual fund abuses, unsuitable mutual fund investments and failure to supervise, breach of fiduciary duty, overcharging , and unauthorized trading

According to Advisor Hub and other sources, Professional basketball player Chandler Parsons has allegedly brought a claim for approximately $5 million in damages against Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, according to regulatory records.

According to the public records, Parsons, a former Atlanta Hawks player, filed the claim in arbitration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in January of this year, according to a copy of the Central Registration Depository record for his broker, Darryl M. Cohen CRD:2786613.Claimants

SEC Puts Nail in Coffin of Career of Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker’s Barry F. Connell

January 12, 2021 | Dan Miller

Bull Bear Miller Stern Lawyers – 410-Law-Firm is currently investigating for clients of former Morgan Stanley broker Barry F. Connell and all firms and broker dealers who may be victims of, and suffered damages and losses, due to abuses such fraud, mutual fund abuses, unsuitable mutual fund investments and failure to supervise, breach of fiduciary duty, overcharging , and unauthorized trading.

Securities and Exchange Commission closed its case against a former Morgan Stanley broker who served prison time, barring him from the securities industry after ensuring that he has repaid more than $5.1 million stolen from customers, according to FINRA.

Connell pled guilty in December 2018 to stealing the money between 2015 and 2016, spending the $5 million to support his “lavish lifestyle,” according to the SEC. He perpetrated the fraud by moving funds among client accounts and using falsified wire transfer forms and checks.

Finra Fines and Supends Ex-Ameriprise Broker Angel W. Bardeche

January 12, 2021 | Dan Miller

Bull Bear Miller Stern Lawyers – 410-Law-Firm is currently investigating clients of Ex Ameriprise Broker Angel Bardeche CRD4698117 and all firms and broker dealers who may be victims of, and suffered damages and losses, due to abuses such as flipping “A” Shares, mutual fund abuses, unsuitable mutual fund investments and failure to supervise, breach of fiduciary duty, overcharging , and unauthorized trading.

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined and suspended a former Ameriprise Financial broker in Cincinnati, Ohio, who allegedly generated $450,000 in commissions from unsuitable mutual fund switches over two years, according to FINRA and Advisor Hub. Ms. Bardeche agreed to a nine-month suspension and $10,000 fine as well as $5,000 in disgorgement to resolve Finra’s allegations of costly mutual fund trading, according to a letter of settlement.

Between January 2017 and March 2019, Bardeche recommended 112 short-term ‘switches’ of Class A mutual funds in 32 customer accounts, Finra said. Class A funds carry large up-front sales charges and “are generally only suitable as long-term investments.”

FINRA Sanctions Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc. $8.8 Million for Supervisory Violations Related to Variable Annuities, Mutual Funds and 529 Plans”

December 23, 2020 | Dan Miller

Bull Bear Miller Stern Lawyers – 410-Law-Firm is currently investigating clients of Transamerica and all firms and broker dealers who may be victims of, and suffered damages and losses, due to abuses such as failure to supervise, breach of fiduciary duty, overcharging , and unauthorized trading.

As posted from FINRA.ORG

“Firm Ordered to Pay $4.4 Million in Restitution to Approximately 2,400 Affected Customers

Finra Hits Veteran Broker Over UIT (Unit Investment Trust) Sales

December 15, 2020 | Dan Miller

Bull Bear FINRA’s ongoing campaign to rein in alleged sales abuses involving short-term trading of unit investment trusts in customer accounts has led a 23-year veteran advisor to accept a $10,000 fine and three-month suspension.

Miller Stern Lawyers – 410-Law-Firm is currently investigating clients of Stifel Nicolaus and all firms and broker dealers who may be victims of, and suffered damages and losses, due to abuses such as short-term trading of unit investment trusts, breach of fiduciary duty, overcharging , and unauthorized trading.

Kurt J. Gunter, an Austin, Texas-area broker with no previous disciplinary record, accepted the sanctions for allegedly recommending more than 270 early rollovers of UITs—almost half into virtually identical portfolios—in order to generate commissions over three years while employed at Stifel Nicolaus, according to a letter of acceptance from FINRA.

Finra Fines for Inadequate Broker Checks

December 15, 2020 | Dan Miller

FINRA fined a small independent broker-dealer in California $35,000 for failing to adequately conduct background investigations on registered reps and for failing to obtain regulatory pre-approval for a seven-month growth spurt, according to Advisor Hub.

Infinity Financial Services, an Oakland, CA-based firm founded 13 years ago by a former Merrill Lynch broker, failed to contact former employers and had no procedures for conducting searches of public records, according to an “acceptance, waiver and consent letter” it signed with Finra.

It hired as many as 16 registered reps over three years through April 2017 without searching their Central Registration Depository records, including five who had pending bankruptcies, judgments and tax liens that Infinity failed to detect, Finra said.

The Second Largest FINRA Settlement in last decade – Merrill Lynch to pay $26 million, in part to former NH Governor Craig Benson, to settle churning allegations by Charles Kenahan

December 10, 2020 | Dan Miller

Bull Bear Miller Stern Lawyers – 410-Law-Firm is currently investigating clients of Merrill Lynch and Charles Kenahan and Dermond Cavanaugh who are may be victims of, and suffered damages and losses, due to abuses such as churning, beach of fiduciary duty, overcharging , and unauthorized trading.

According to CNBC and other new outlets, the State of New Hampshire “is ordering Merrill Lynch to pay $26.25 million in fines and restitution to the state and to an investor, the former Governor of New Hampshire, who claimed he suffered losses at the hands of a former Boston-based broker, to settle allegations including unauthorized and excessive trading”, or what is commonly known as Churning.

This is the largest monetary sanction in New Hampshire history and proportedly the second largest FINRA settlement in at least a decade.

Morgan Stanley Fires Brokers over Inherited Account Credits Blake Ridenour Jazmin Gabriela Carpenter and others

November 20, 2020 | Dan Miller

cropped-High-Res-TA-2018-2019-284x300 Morgan Stanley terminated around ten brokers following a nationwide probe of alleged abuses in its inherited account program, according to lawyers, firm sources and former managers per advisor Hub. Miller Stern Lawyers – 410-Law-Firm is currently investigating clients of Morgan Stanley who are victims of, and suffered damages and losses, due to these abuses.

The investigation was prompted by complaints about underpayments from at least one retired broker who entered the Former Advisor Program (FAP), a so-called sunsetting plan that Morgan Stanley and other large firms have promoted heavily in an attempt to keep older brokers from joining other firms and taking clients with them.

according the the article, the programs allow older brokers to receive a split of fees and commissions paid by former clients for several years if the brokers let their practices lapse after they leave.