Former Pennsylvania-based Raymond James Broker Under Investigation for Allegations of Accepting Undisclosed Loans From Customers

Silver Law Group is investigating former Pennsylvania-based Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (CRD# 6694) Jeffrey S. Ingros (CRD# 2091822) after FINRA permanently barred him.

The most recent trouble with Ingros came in February 2016 when Raymond James permitted Ingros to resign after Ingros disclosed to the firm that he accepted loans from customers without prior written approval from the firm and failed to disclose those loans on the firm’s annual compliance attestations, according to his FINRA BrokerCheck report.

Not even a month later, Ingros entered into an Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (“AWC”) consenting to sanctions and the entry of findings that he refused to appear for on-the-record testimony requested by FINRA during its investigation into the aforementioned allegations as well as allegations that he engaged in outside business activities.  FINRA permanently barred Ingros for his failure to appear.

According to Ingros’ BrokerCheck report, Ingros has a total of 16 misconduct disclosures spanning multiple years.

Between the 2004 and 2009, Ingros had three FINRA arbitrations settled for over $80,000.  The allegations include unsuitable recommendations and misrepresentations, according to his BrokerCheck report.

In 2013, Ingros was discharged by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (CRD# 7691) for conduct including advising clients on assets held outside the firm, discretionarily trading in non-discretionary accounts, and recommending and selling securities outside of the firm – also known as “selling away.”

According to Ingros’ BrokerCheck report, Ingros currently has two FINRA arbitrations pending that allege unsuitable recommendations.

Raymond James employed Ingros from 2013 to 2016 at its Beaver, Pennsylvania branch.

The term “selling away” is used when a broker sells or solicits the sale of securities that are not held or offered by the brokerage firm he or she is associated.  Usually, the investments sought to be sold by the rogue broker are not approved by the employing firm and are often private placements or other alternative investments.

This is an important issue, as our firm sees many cases in which brokerage firms allege they conducted due diligence and the due diligence conducted was inadequate.  In the cases of selling away, you have a rogue broker selling an investment that was either not vetted at all by the employing brokerage firm or was vetted and determined unsuitable for the brokerage firm’s customer base.

Brokers and brokerage firms have a duty to recommend suitable investments to their customers.  This entails ensuring the investment is generally suitable for investment purposes and also suitable for the particular investor, factoring age, investment goal, and other factors.

On top of the duty to recommend suitable investments, a brokerage firm has a duty to supervise its brokers.  The brokerage firm is responsible for the actions of its brokers.

FINRA arbitration is a fast, efficient way to recover your lost investment funds.  We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay us nothing unless we win and recover money for you.

If you have invested with Jeffery S. Ingros and Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and have lost money doing so, you may be able to recover some or all of your losses.  Our lawyers are experienced in recovering investor losses due to broker and brokerage firm misconduct through FINRA arbitration.

Silver Law Group represents the interests of investors who have been the victims of investment fraud.  If you have questions about your legal rights, please contact Scott Silver of the Silver Law Group for a free consultation at ssilver@silverlaw.com or toll free at (800) 975-4345.