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Dustin Shafer (Dustin Paul Shafer) is a currently-registered broker employed by Newbridge Securities Corporation (CRD# 104065) in Springfield, Illinois. He previously worked for Money Concepts Capital Corp (CRD# 12963), Chase Investment Services Corp (CRD# 25574), Banc One Securities Corporation (CRD# 16999), and Edward Jones (CRD# 250). Shafer has been in the industry since 2000. Continue reading ›
George Schmidt, Jr. is a barred broker who was last registered with Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation in Melville, NY. In February, 2020 Schmidt was terminated after an allegation of misappropriation. After that, he was barred from associating with any FINRA member.
Silver Law Group represents investors in cases of stockbroker misconduct, including misappropriation. If you have investment losses, contact Scott Silver for a consultation at ssilver@silverlaw.com or (800) 975-4345.
Before joining Lincoln Financial (CRD# 3978) in 2012, Schmidt was registered with Hornor, Townsend & Kent, Inc. (CRD# 4031), 1717 Capital Management Company (CRD# 4082), AXA Advisors, LLC (CRD# 6627), and The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States (CRD# 1039). Continue reading ›
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing Frederick Stow (Frederick Markley Stow), a barred broker last employed by Raymond James in Nashville, Tennessee, for allegedly defrauding two senior citizens of over $943,500.
“As alleged in our complaint, Stow took advantage of these seniors, abusing his access to their brokerage accounts to generate income for himself,” said Justin Jefferies, assoc. regional director, SEC’s Atlanta regional office. The SEC seeks the return of alleged ill-gotten gains, interest, injunctive relief, and a penalty.
Federal prosecutors also filed criminal charges against Stow. Continue reading ›
Jeffrey Dixson (CRD# 4166311) is a previously registered broker and investment adviser who was last registered with Madison Avenue Securities in Vancouver, Washington. Dixson’s BrokerCheck report includes customer disputes seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages regarding the sale of GPB Capital.
Silver Law Group represents investors in claims to recover GPB losses. If you have investments in GPB Capital, contact Scott Silver for a consultation at ssilver@silverlaw.com or (800) 975-4345.
3 of the customer disputes brought against Dixson in 2020 involve the sale of private placement investments in GPB Capital Holdings, an alternative investment company that is now accused of being a Ponzi scheme. Continue reading ›
Masood Azad (Masood Husain Azad, CRD# 4798445) is a barred broker last registered with First Allied Securities, Inc. (CRD# 32444) in League City, Texas. He was previously registered with Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. (CRD# 2882). He had been in the industry since 2004.
Masood Azad has 5 disclosures on his publicly-available FINRA BrokerCheck report, including 3 customer disputes, 1 regulatory disclosure, and 1 employment separation after allegations: Continue reading ›
James Daughtry (James Blake Daughtry, CRD# 3272282) is a currently-barred broker who last worked for Kestra Investment Services, LLC in Dothan, Alabama.
Before joining Kestra in 2015, Daughtry worked for Ameriprise Financial Services, Securities America, Sterne Agee Financial Services, Wachovia Securities, Southtrust Securities, and Liberty Securities Corporation. He had been in the industry from 1999-2020. Continue reading ›
One of the most common claims from unhappy investors is against stockbrokers who churn or excessively trade their account to generate commissions for themselves.
Every dollar spent on fees, costs, or commissions is money that needs to be recovered through profit just for the investor to break even. The higher the commissions an investor pays, the less likely they are to make a profit. Continue reading ›
According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for May 2020, the following individuals were suspended from FINRA for failing to comply with a FINRA arbitration award or settlement agreement pursuant to FINRA rules:
| NAME | FORMER EMPLOYERS |
| Thomas Bock | Mutual Securities, Inc. |
| Securities America, Inc. | |
| Richard Brown | Arive Capital Markets |
| Chelsea Financial Services | |
| Mary Evans | Mutual Securities, Inc. |
| Securities America, Inc. | |
| Matthew Francis | Morgan Stanley Smith Barney |
| Morgan Stanley & Co Incorporated | |
| James Heafner | Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. |
| Taylor Capital Management Inc. | |
| Christopher Kennedy | Oppenheimer & Co, Inc. |
| Liberty Tree Advisors, LLC | |
| Rachael Konz | Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated |
| Morgan Stanley | |
| Jonathan Lake | Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC |
| Morgan Stanley | |
| Douglas Leone | Salomon Whitney Financial |
| Newport Coast Securities, Inc. | |
| Yousuf Saljooki | Worden Capital Management LLC |
| Salomon Whitney Financial | |
| Ricardo Urrutia | Mutual of Omaha Investor Services, Inc. |
| AXA Advisors, LLC | |
| Frank Wroblewski | National Securities Corporation |
| Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC |
According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for May 2020, 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 |
| George Belesis | Portfolio Advisors Alliance, LLC |
| John Thomas Financial | |
| Dustin Blount | MML Investors Services, LLC |
| Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC | |
| Barry Carson | Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC |
| Felix Chu | NYLife Securities LLC |
| Brian Colburn | Maxim Group LLC |
| The Buckingham Research Group Incorporated | |
| Prithviraj Dhandapani | LPL Financial LLC |
| Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated | |
| Michael Drury | Stillpoint Capital LLC |
| Davrion Hemphill | |
| Robert Lee | |
| Eric Zakarin | Lombard Securities Incorporated |
| Independent Financial Group, LLC |
According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for May 2020, 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. However, these individuals remain bound by the securities arbitration agreement to arbitrate any disputes between themselves and their former customers:
| NAME | FORMER EMPLOYERS |
| Robert Cacioppo | MML Investors Services, LLC |
| NYLife Securities LLC | |
| Paula Collins | TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC |
| OppenheimerFunds Distributor, Inc. | |
| Michael Davis | Allied Millennial Partners, LLC |
| Syren Capital Advisors | |
| Megan Hoffman | J.P. Morgan Securities LLC |
| Chase Investment Services Corp | |
| Jody Pullium | Allstate Financial Services, LLC |
| PNC Investments | |
| Ana Rivera | Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC |
| Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC | |
| John Santariello | Arive Capital Markets |
| Cape Securities Inc. | |
| George Schmidt, Jr. | Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation |
| Horner, Townsend & Kent, Inc. | |
| Ricardo Turlan | UBS Financial Services Inc. |
| BBVA Securities Inc. | |
| Kevin Williams | Lucia Securities, LLC |
| Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC |
Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog