Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog
Did Your Stockbroker Sell You GPB Capital
Massachusetts is investigating allegations that 63 broker-dealer firms may still be selling private placements in GPB Capital Holdings LLC after the firm temporarily stopped raising funds.
The head of the Massachusetts Securities Division, William Galvin, received a tip from an independent firm, and began investigating GPB’s sales practices. His office has requested documentation relating to sales activity in the state, marketing materials provided to investors and information related to investor suitability.
GPB recently stated it is suspending their efforts to raise new capital to take care of overdue accounting and financial reporting of two of its biggest funds, GPB Holdings II and GPB Automotive Portfolio. These two funds have raised a combined $1.3 billion in investor capital, and became eligible to release financial information to the public over a year ago. They are now required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, but missed the April 30th deadline.
On 06/12/20018, a customer filed a dispute against Hines, alleging unsuitable investments from 2005 through 2018, negligence, common law fraud and other claims, and requested damages of $142,026.00. Hines responded that a motion to compel would be filed to bring the case to arbitration, and reasons why the claims were without basis.
Johnson is the subject of seven disclosures on his record, four of which are regulatory actions. Five of the disclosures were filed from 04/24/2015 through 06/20/2018. The first disclosure was employment separation.
Khan was barred by FINRA after he refused to answer a request for information from them. He was barred in all capacities, and from associating with a FINRA member in any capacity, effective 11/17/2017. Khan did not request a termination of his suspension within 3 months, so he was indefinitely barred from the industry, and remains so to this day.
On 8/9/2018, The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan filed criminal charges against Maccoll in an action initiated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (
According to CRD records, Malis has five disclosures on his record, all customer disputes. The most recent was filed on 12/7/2017, alleging unsuitable investments and that he never discussed any transactions with the client during the time period 2/13/2006 through 12/31/2016. This claim was denied.
His most recent disclosure was filed on 6/25/2018. This customer disclosure is currently pending, and includes allegations of “unsuitable investments, misrepresentations, and omission of material risks, in connection with the sale of various investments.” The client has requested damages of $231,244.71. Martinsen denies the allegations.
Morrissett is the subject of four disclosures, the most recent of which was filed on 4/5/2018. The claimants allege that Morrissett “misrepresented” two hedge funds in 2013 and 2015, and that the information provided on the two alternative investments was “misleading.” The clients have requested damages of $2,300,000. This case is currently pending.
Nixon has a total of four disclosures in his record, the most recent a customer dispute filed on 7/9/2018. The claimants allege that from 2013 to 2018, Nixon violated both the Florida Securities Act and the Virginia Securities Act. They also allege that he committed common law and securities fraud and breached his fiduciary duty, and completely misrepresented multiple unsuitable securities and investments. Additional allegations include failure to supervise on the part of the firm (Paulson Investment.) Claimants are requesting damages in the amount of $3,000,000. The case is currently pending.