Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog

Multiple Complaints Against Former Broker Michael Fitz-Gerald

August 20, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Former broker and investment advisor Michael Edward Fitz-Gerald (aka Michael Edward Fitzgerald, CRD #209062) was last registered with Morgan Stanley (CRD #149777) of San Francisco, CA. Previous employers include Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated (CRD #8209) and UBS Financial Services Inc. (CRD #8174), both of San Francisco. He began working in the industry in 1969.

New-York-Broker-Gregory-Flemming-Suspended-by-FINRA-300x200 Fitz-Gerald is the subject of six disputes, dating back to 1987. The latest, filed on 6/6/2018, is pending, and requesting damages totaling $240,000 and allege, “inter alia, unsuitability with respect to investments in accounts -2014 to 2015.”

The previous dispute, filed on 2/14/2017, requested damages of $2,348,175.00, and settled for $185,000. The client alleged that his portfolio was insufficiently diversified from 2012 to 2016. A year before, in 2016, another dispute was filed, with the same allegation of insufficient diversification in the account from 2010 through 2015. The damages were unspecified, and case was settled for $50,000.

Securities Arbitration Claims Against National Securities Corp.

August 15, 2018 | Silver Law Group

According to some reports, nearly 1/3 of National Securities brokers have had regulatory issues, legal disputes, or personal financial problems that have been disclosed to investors

National Securities Corporation is one of the oldest financial firms in the U.S., dating back over 70 years. Its the main office is in Seattle, Washington, but the company has licenses to operate in every state in the country, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

National Securities Corporation is registered with the SEC and three self-regulatory organizations: Nasdaq, Cboe BZX Exchanged, Inc., and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) – and it is with the latter agency that the company has come under intense scrutiny over the last couple of decades.

Former Broker Ernest Romer Barred By FINRA After Two Investigations

August 13, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Ernest Julius Romer III (CRD #2311741) is a former registered broker and investment broker, last employed with CoreCap Investments, Inc. (CRD #37068) of Sterling Heights, MI. Previous employers include L.M. Kohn & Company (CRD #27913) and Leonard & Company (CRD #36527), both of Sterling Heights, and Comerica Securities (CRD #17079) of Warren, MI. No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 1993, and has a total of 36 disclosures in his FINRA record

Romer is currently the subject of two investigations by the state of Michigan into allegations from two clients that he “stole” money from them. The first was filed on 8/28/2017, the second on 9/1/2017. Both are accompanied by correlating FINRA arbitration cases.

The State of Michigan has also barred Romer from working as a broker in the state of Michigan and permanently revoked his license, and levied fines of $1.5 million against him.

FINRA Gives Broker Jeffrey Fanning Suspension, Fines

August 13, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Jeffrey Fanning (CRD #1566859) is a former broker and investment advisor whose last employer was Liberty Partners Financial Services, LLC (CRD #130390) of West Palm Beach, FL. Previous employers include Banc One Securities Corporation (CRD #16999) of Chicago and Andrew Garrett Inc. (CRD #29931) of New York City. No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 1986.

FINRA has suspended Fanning for six months as a broker, and one year as a principal following the allegations and findings that he failed to supervise and adequately address possible excessive trading. He has also been fined $20,000 in the case.

Failure-to-Adequately-Supervise-Prompts-FINRA-Suspension-of-Roman-Luckey-300x200 Even when Liberty’s internal processes should have triggered a review, Fanning did not adequately address the trading issues. Fanning was, for a time, a 50% owner in Liberty, as well as Liberty’s CEO, CFO and FINOP. Fanning failed to establish and maintain written supervisory procedures (WSP) for the company to ensure that any excessive trading was reviewed, what the red flags were, and when to notify the customer of the potential for excess trading in their account.

FINRA Suspends Walter Parker For Unsuitable Investments

August 13, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Broker Walter Parker (CRD #2131232) is a former registered broker and investment advisor last employed with Titan Securities, Inc. (CRD #131392) of Rowlett, TX. His previous employers include ING Financial Partners, Inc. (CRD #2882) of Wylie, TX, Locust Street Securities, Inc. (CRD #1703) of Des Moines, IA, and BMA Financial Services, Inc. (CRD #7943) of Kansas City, MO. No current employment information is available. Parker has been in the industry since 1991.

Lawrence-LaBine-Under-Fire-for-Alleged-Unsuitable-Recommendations-and-More-300x200 FINRA recently suspended Parker for one month, and fined him $7,500 related to his activities with a client’s accounts. Parker made a number of recommendations to a client that she immediately begin investing in “alternative investments.” This client had very little prior investing experience, particularly with alternative investments. She was 64 at the time the account was opened. He recommended that she invest $290,000 into four of these illiquid alternative investments from her retirement accounts, all REITs.

These investments concentrated a large percentage of her net worth into these illiquid alternative investments, and were totally unsuitable for the client’s investment objectives. Unfortunately, the client suffered significant losses from all four of these REITs, requiring her to seek and obtain fulltime employment in 2016.

Broker Michael Rosalia Subject Of Multiple Judgments, Tax Liens

August 13, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Michael Richard Rosalia (CRD #2323953) is a FINRA broker currently registered with Worden Capital Management LLC (CRD #148366) of Melville, NY. He has been with Worden since 12/2/2015. Rosalia’s previous employers include Rockwell Global Capital LLC (CRD #142485), also of Melville, American Capital Partners, LLC (CRD #119249) of Hauppage, NY, and Ladenburg, Thalmann & Co., Inc. (CRD #505) of New York City. He has been in the industry since 1993.

William-Slone’s-45-year-Career-Shows-14-FINRA-Disclosure-Events-300x219 Rosalia’s FINRA record contains 16 disclosures. The most recent was a customer dispute involving a client and the client’s children, with allegations of churning, improper use of margin, unsuitability and high commissions. The children contacted the firm, claiming to represent the customer. But without a power of attorney, or the presence of the client, neither Rosalia nor anyone else the firm could or would speak with them. Eventually, the client and his children had a conference with the firm’s CEO and attorney. The client and children sought damages of $503,828.39; the firm settled for $150,000 to avoid litigation and other related expenses.

Two of Rosalia’s disclosures are bankruptcy dismissals from 2013. Eight of the disclosures from 2009 through 2011 are tax lien judgments totaling $219,663.17. Rosalia’s comment in two of these cases indicated he assumed that they had been already reported on his U4.

Broker Stephen Sullivan Subject of 8 Disclosures

August 13, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Stephen Sullivan (CRD #3123249) is a broker currently registered with SW Financial (CRD #145012) of Melville, NY. His previous employers include Newbridge Securities Corporation (CRD #104065), Legend Securities, Inc. (CRD #44952) and Tryco Securities, Inc. (CRD #104025). Sullivan has worked in the industry since 1998, with a number of broker firms in New York State.

Picture1-2-300x150 Sullivan has 8 disclosures in his career, the first of which is a customer dispute filed on 5/7/2018. The client alleges Sullivan engaged in unsuitable transactions, excessive trading, and failure to supervise, requesting $540,618.00 in damages. Sullivan denies the allegations. In his response, Sullivan states that the client knew about all the transactions and authorized them before they were purchased. This case is currently pending.

In 2016, Sullivan was suspended by FINRA for 10 days and fined $5,000 for “exercising discretion” with two customer accounts without prior written authorization from the clients, and without written permission from the firm. He agreed to the sanctions, signed an Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (AWC) letter, paid the fine and was suspended from 03/07/2016 through 03/18/2016.

Jason McBride

August 13, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Broker Jason McBride (CRD #1875972) is a registered broker and investment advisor employed by Presidential Brokerage, Inc. (CRD #28784) of Greenwood Village, CO. He has been with Presidential since 1995. His previous employers include VTR Capital, Inc. (CRD #21404) of New York City, Chatfield Dean & Co., Inc. (CRD #14714) also of Greenwood Village, CO, Venture Trading, Inc. (CRD #21404) of New York City, Marshall Davis, Inc. (CRD #16278), Donald & Co. Securities Inc. (CRD #7776) of Tinton Falls, NJ, Pacific Rim Securities, Inc. (CRD #13155) and Power Securities Corporation (CRD #15527). He has been in the industry since 1988.

McBride has been the subject of five customer disputes in his career. The most recent was filed on 5/1/2018, by a client alleging “unsuitability, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, failure to supervise, misrepresentation, omission, and breach of contract in the purchase of 2 non traded REITs and a limited partnership between February 2006 and August 2008.” The client is requesting damages in the amount of $251,317.00. Presidential denies the claims, and McBride isn’t actually a named party in the complaint. The firm is defending itself against the claims.

A prior complaint was filed on 12/15/2015 by a disgruntled former employee and her husband. McBride, again, was not a named party in the complaint. The clients alleged “breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, negligence and unlawful termination and retaliation.” The wife was employed by Presidential as a Series 7 representative, studying for her Series 7 exam, and working as an assistant to McBride.

Broker Howard Utz The Subject Of Two Investigations

August 13, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Howard Raymond Utz (CRD #2672208) is a former broker whose last registered employer was Hazard & Siegel, Inc. (CRD #2048) of Mars, PA, from 09/24/2015 through 06/01/2018. His previous employers include Securities America, Inc. (CRD #10205) and Sunset Financial Services, Inc. (CRD #3538), both of Mars, PA. No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 1995.

Former-New-York-Life-Broker-Jonathan-Williams-Barred-by-FINRA-as-a-Result-of-Outside-Business-Activities-300x200 Utz was discharged on 6/1/2018 from Hazard & Siegel as a result of allegations that he failed to report outside business activities and private security transactions. It was also alleged that Utz accepted and received checks in his own name and converted them to personal use. No other information is available from this disclosure.

Two additional disclosures indicating an investigation are also in his record. The first, filed on 05/25/2018, indicate that the FBI is conducting an investigation into Utz’s activities. However, no additional information is available. The second, filed on 01/30/2018, indicate the SEC was also conducting an investigation, but again, no additional information is listed nor available.

Broker Ray Reese Subject Of Five Customer Dispute Disclosures

August 13, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Ray Gene Reese (CRD #1694620) is a FINRA Broker and Investment Advisor with Money Concepts Capital Corp (CRD #12963) of Farmington, MO. His previous employers include Pruco Securities Corporation (CRD #5685) and The Prudential Insurance Company Of America (CRD #680), of Newark, NJ, Hibbard Brown & Co., Inc. (CRD #18246) and Sherwood Capital, Inc. (CRD #10474). He has been in the industry since 1987.

New-York-Broker-Gregory-Flemming-Suspended-by-FINRA-300x200 Reese is the subject of five disclosures, all customer disputes dating back to 1999. The latest, filed on 05/08/2018, involved Reese misrepresented a publicly traded, illiquid product. The customer requested damages of $75,000. Reese countered that he had indeed informed the client of its illiquid nature. After the customer stated that they did not need the money for 11-20 years, the firm found that this was a suitable investment based on the provided information. Additionally, the clients indicated that the accounts were not held in their name; at the time, they were in a brokerage account by Pershing LLC. This dispute was denied.

The next customer dispute is dated 05/07/2018, and is currently listed as “pending.” These clients claim “unsuitability, negligence, breach of contract” as well as breaches of Missouri statutes related to losses of funds deposited in their accounts in 1999 and 2000. The clients also claim that they made a down payment on a whole life insurance policy, with Reese stating that the premiums would never increase, and to ignore letters from the insurance company regarding unpaid premiums. Furthermore, the clients allege that Reese converted money for his own use and ignored their requests to see their file. Reese denies all the allegations, was not the individual who sold the client their insurance policies, and indicated that the clients took loans against their $400,000 investment and personal distributions in excess of $400,000. The clients are requesting damages in the amount of $650,000.