Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog

Silver Law Group Files Claim Against Portfolio Advisors Alliance Alleging Brokers Churned Account and Racked Up Over $500,000 in Commissions

October 22, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group has filed a FINRA arbitration claim against Portfolio Advisors Alliance, LLC after its brokers excessively traded (churned) the Claimant’s account.

The securities arbitration claim alleges the Claimant met his initial Portfolio Advisors Alliance broker in 2013 at another brokerage firm: FINRA-barred firm John Thomas Financial. The Claimant initially opened his accounts with a modest sum of money and gave the broker a chance to make money for him as he promised. The broker proceeded to convince the Claimant to utilize margin in order to increase his profits, according to the FINRA arbitration claim, and deposit additional funds to satisfy margin calls.

Unfortunately for Claimant, the broker allegedly proceeded to churn the account, repeatedly buying and selling four (4) different stocks, including several high-risk and speculative pharmaceutical investments. When the broker resigned, another broker took over the accounts without the Claimant’s knowledge and proceeded with the same “investment strategy” of making unauthorized transactions and churning the account, according to the securities arbitration claim.

James Flynn, Former South Carolina-based IFS Securities and Voya Financial Advisors Broker, Under Investigation

October 22, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is investigating former Greenville, South Carolina-based broker James T. Flynn (CRD# 3082615) after FINRA permanently barred the broker.

FINRA Bars James T. Flynn After Numerous Customers File FINRA Arbitrations

According to Flynn’s FINRA BrokerCheck report, FINRA permanently barred Flynn in June 2018 after he failed to respond to a FINRA inquiry. The FINRA bar follows approximately 17 disclosures on Flynn’s FINRA BrokerCheck report and two employment terminations within one year.

Silver Law Group Has Filed Another FINRA Arbitration Claim Against Wells Fargo After it Broker Recommended Unsuitable Investments to Elderly Client

October 22, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group has filed a FINRA arbitration claim against Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC (Wells Fargo) after its broker allegedly recommended unsuitable, high-risk investments to his elderly customers.

According to the securities arbitration complaint, the elderly Claimants were immigrants with the equivalent of a third grade education. The Claimants had worked hard to save and had been retired since 2005.

According to the FINRA arbitration complaint, the elderly Claimants sought a reputable broker who could speak Spanish in 2014. The Claimants had no experience investing, could not speak English, and greatly relied on Wells Fargo, according to the securities arbitration claim. Further, Claimants entrusted the entirety of the retirement money to Wells Fargo and did not want excessive risk.

FINRA Bars Broker Kyusun Kim After Multiple Customer Complaints Of Unsuitability

October 12, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Kyusun Kim (CRD #2864085) is a registered investment advisor and previously registered broker, last employed and registered with Sandlapper Securities, LLC, of San Diego, CA. (He is also known as “Kyu Sun Kim” or “Kenny Kim.”) Kim’s previous employers include Independent Financial Group, LLC (CRD #7717), Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation (CRD #3978), both also of San Diego, and The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (CRD #2580) of Fort Wayne, IN. He began in the industry in 1997.

Kim is the subject of 23 customer disputes dating back to 2007. One dispute was denied; nine are pending, and the remaining thirteen are settled, with one settlement rescinded. The total for Kim’s twelve settled cases is $2,995,443. His nine pending complaints include requested damages totaling $2,950,000.

New Jersey Broker Richard Grant Cody May Be Facing Serious Penalties on elderfinancialfraudattorneys.com Between 2008 and 2015, Kim was accused of soliciting the business of individuals who were retired or near retirement age, and recommended that they liquidate their pension plans and 401(k) to invest with him in so-called “alternative investments,” including things like non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs.) Many of these customers had little or no investment experience, and were unfamiliar with these types of securities. The higher risk involved made them inconsistent with the more conservative objectives. Kim failed to disclose the extra risk involved in many of these securities, and most suffered substantial financial losses.

SEC Awards Two More Whistleblowers A Total of $54M

October 12, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Murphy’s-Misconduct-1024x1024-300x300 The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that the agency has awarded two more individuals funds totaling $54 million under the SEC’s Whistleblower Program.

The first individual was awarded $39 million, and the second was awarded $15 million. Both offered information and assistance that resulted in enforcement actions. The $39 million award is the second largest award in the program’s history.

After voluntarily providing the SEC with “original, timely, and credible information that leads to a successful enforcement action,” individuals may be eligible for monetary awards. For sanctions exceeding $1 million, whistleblowers may be awarded as much as 10% to 30%. Whistleblowers are a great help to an investigation, and can supply valuable information that might not otherwise be available.

CTFC Orders Restitution of $11.9M In Commodities Fraud

October 12, 2018 | Silver Law Group

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) filed orders today that brought and settled cases against two commodities firms engaged in unauthorized trading and two traders attempting to manipulate commodity prices.

In the first case, Iowa-based Kooima & Kaemingk Commodities, Inc. (K&K), Lauren Kaemingk (Kaemingk), and Bradley Kooima (Kooima) were charged with:

Fraud

SEC Charges Broker Jovannie Aquino

October 11, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Jovannie Aquino (CRD #4876661, aka John Aquino) is a former registered broker of New York, NY. Previous employers include Windsor Street Capital (CRD #34171), also in New York City, John Carris Investments LLC (CRD #145767), John Thomas Financial (CRD #40982) and Hallmark Investments, Inc. (CRD #135003) of New York City.

Aquino has worked for a total of 12 brokerages, holds Series 7 and 63 licenses and began working in the industry in 2004. Aquino has two LinkedIn pages that do appear to be updated, and no current employment information is available.

SEC Announces Charges in Massive Telemarketing Boiler Room Scheme Targeting Seniors on elderfinancialfraudattorneys.com On September 7, 2018, the SEC charged Aquino with defrauding customers by engaging in “churning” to generate excessive commissions for himself, in the amount of $930,000. Aquino’s customers lost a total of $881,000. At the time of these allegations, May 2014 through November 2017, Aquino was registered with Meyers Associates, L.P. (now known as Windsor Street Capital.) The SEC complaint also states that in 2015 and 2016, Aquino and an unnamed colleague engaged in cold-calling leads acquired from a publicly available database.

SEC Charges Broker Emil Botvinnik With Excessive Trading, Churning

October 11, 2018 | Silver Law Group

If you watch your brokerage account regularly, you’ll see the various trades and charges that go along with them. But if you’re seeing transactions that you don’t recall authorizing, and you’re spending a lot more money for fees, commissions and other related charges, it’s time to ask questions. Our South Florida FINRA arbitration attorneys can answer those questions.

David-Sullivan-Accused-of-Excessive-Trading-on-More-Than-One-Occasion-300x200 Broker Emil Bottvinnik (CRD #4359481) has been charged by the SEC with doing just that very thing. On September 7, 2018, the SEC charged Botvinnik with excessive trading and “churning,” or frequent, short-term trading. This kind of quick-turnover trading paid more in commissions that a client would make from his or her investment.

The SEC alleges that Bottvinnik opened accounts for at least five individuals, and concealed information about what they would be charged for these frequent tradings. Many of these customers were at or near retirement age, and lost $2.8 million for his clients while making commissions of $3.7 million in “ill-gotten gains.” These tradings are alleged to have taken place while was employed with Meyers Associates L.P. in Miami Beach, Florida, from 06/19/2012 through 11/17/2014. Meyers Associates was expelled by FINRA on 5/29/2018.

Cybersecurity Breach Costs Voya Financial Advisors $1M In Fines

October 11, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Des Moines-based broker Voya Financial Advisors (VFA) has been fined $1 million in a cybersecurity case that’s the first under the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. VFA has agreed to pay the fines in relation to a case that saw their systems compromised and the personal information of thousands of the firm’s customers at risk.

sec-300x198 The SEC announced this week that it has charged VFA with violating the Safeguards Rule and the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. These rules were designed to protect customers from cyberattack activity, and protect customers and their confidential information.

In April 2016, over a six-day period, one or more individuals posing as an independent contractor called VFA’s technical support number to request portal password resets for three representatives. Two of those calls came from phone numbers that were used in previous fraudulent activities. Technical support personnel not only reset these passwords but provided the usernames as well.

Karl Foust Subject Of $1.1M In Customer Disputes With Wimbledon Health Partners Investments

October 5, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Karl Ronald Foust, Jr. (CRD #1010291) is a formerly registered broker and investment advisor who was last registered with H.D. Vest Investment Services (CRD #13686) of Boca Raton, FL. His previous employers include Gunnallen Financial, Inc. (CRD #17609) of Delray Beach, FL, Thomas James Associates, Inc. (CRD #15609) and Apple Financial Corporation (CRD #10375). No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 1981.

Richard-Gomez-Allegedly-Involved-With-Fraudulent-Company-1024x681-300x200 Foust currently has seven disclosures on his record, all customer disputes, one of which was closed without action. These customer disputes were all filed in the period between June 2017 and July 2018.

All of these disputes (including the closed case) are currently listed as “pending.” The common thread through each of these claims is Foust’s recommendations of the client’s investments in Wimbledon Health Partners, LLC, and failing to disclose his own involvement with the firm, a conflict of interest. Payments promised were not made to clients, and total damages of these claims comes to $1,198483.34.