A National Securities Arbitration & Investment Fraud Law Firm
According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for October 2016, the following individuals were suspended from FINRA and cannot currently work for a FINRA brokerage firm for failing to provide FINRA with information it requested or to keep information current with FINRA pursuant to FINRA rules: NAME FORMER EMPLOYERS Maricela Alvarez…
According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for Oct 2016, the following individuals were barred from FINRA and cannot currently work for a FINRA brokerage firm for failing to provide FINRA with information it requested or to keep information current with FINRA pursuant to FINRA rules: NAME FORMER EMPLOYERS Kamran Azim…
Silver Law Group is investigating former Clearwater, Florida broker Dennis M. Merritt (CRD# 1748115) after FINRA suspended him for four months and his employing firm terminated him for alleged unsuitable recommendations among other things. In March 2016, FINRA and Merritt entered into an order accepting offer of settlement (the “Order”). …
Silver Law Group is investigating former Boca Raton, Florida-based Raymond James broker Gregory E. Barr (CRD# 1312703) after being discharged by two different firms in less than three years. Barr was most recently employed by Raymond James & Associates (CRD# 705), but most of his trouble involves his prior firm,…
In August 2016, FINRA filed a formal complaint against a broker, Hank Mark Werner of Northport, NY, for churning the account of his customer, a 77-year-old blind widow, and for excessive and unsuitable trading on her account. His actions, which allegedly span a three-year period, resulted in his receiving more…
In July 2016, Prudential Annuities Distributors were fined nearly one million dollars for failing to “detect and prevent a scheme” that resulted in the theft of approximately $1.3 million dollars from an 89-year-old’s variable annuity account.
FINRA filed a cease and desist order in the spring of 2015 against Avenir Financial Group, CEO Michael Clements, and registered representative Karim Ibrahim for fraud against elderly investors. In addition, another registered representative, Cesar Rodriguez, was barred from the securities industry for fraud and for improperly using $77,000 of…
From December 2012 to August 2014, Jeffrey C. McClure allegedly wrote 36 checks to himself from an elderly customer’s bank account. FINRA reports that the checks totaled nearly $89,000, which McClure deposited in his own account so that he could pay his own rent. FINRA permanently barred the broker.
Two brokers, Fernando L. Arevalo and Jimmy E. Caballero, were permanently barred from the securities industry by FINRA in 2013, for allegedly stealing $300,000 from an elderly widow with diminished mental capacity.
As the sole distributor of a Real Estate Investment Fund, David Lerner Associates allegedly solicited thousands of customers without determining if it was suitable for investors. In addition, FINRA states the firm targeted “unsophisticated investors” and the elderly. In 2012, FINRA ordered the firm to pay $12 million in restitution…