Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog

FINRA Suspends Broker Lorene Fairbanks For Improper Financial Relationship With Client And Improper Communications With Client

May 4, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Lorene Fairbanks (CRD# 2788572) (aka “Lorene Fairbanks Miller,” “Lori Miller”) has been suspended by FINRA for five months due to allegations of an improper financial relationship with a client and improper communications. Her last registered employment was with Ameriprise Financial Services (CRD# 6363). She is not currently registered with any financial institution.

Fairbanks’ previous registration history includes:

Ameriprise Financial Services (CRD# 6363), of Canfield, OH, from 11/20/2014 to 06/09/2017.

FINRA Suspends Broker Jeffrey Paul Dragon For Excessive UIT Trading

May 4, 2018 | Silver Law Group

FINRA has suspended broker Jeffrey Paul Dragon (CRD# 1874038) for 21 months and sanctioned him $50,000 in relation to a series of customer complaints. He has since been subjected to a second customer dispute after being terminated.

Dragon was last employed by Berthel Fisher & Company Financial Services, Inc. (CRD# 13609) of Burlington, MA, from 03/02/2007 to 09/23/2016, when Berthel terminated his registration and employment.

His previous employers include:

Palm Beach Broker Gary Edward Adkin Subject of Negligence Claim

May 4, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Palm Beach, Florida-based Gary Edward Adkin (CRD# 3084484) is currently registered as a broker and investment advisor employed by Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (CRD# 793.) Adkin has been with the firm since 12/4/2015, and was previously employed by Barclay’s and Lehman Brothers. In addition to his current registration with Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, he is also currently registered with Barclay’s Capital since 9/2008. He was previously registered with Lehman Brothers, Inc., from 10/2004 through 9/2008.

Adkin is currently the subject of a customer dispute during his tenure with his current firm, with pending arbitration at FINRA. The clients have alleged that Adkin was “negligent, and failed to exercise responsibility with regard to the account.” The claim was filed with FINRA, and the client is requesting $1,550,000 in damages. Process was served on 12/8/2017.

Contact Our Firm if You’ve Invested with Gary Adkin

Reporting Failures Cost Aegis Financial $1.3M In Fines

May 3, 2018 | Silver Law Group

FINRA and the SEC has fined Aegis Capital $1.3 million stemming from multiple reporting violations, including failing to report suspicious trades to the SEC. The regulators also allege that Aegis CEO and owner Robert Eide was responsible for causing the violations when he failed to respond to reports of suspicious activity. He was fined separately.

Aegis was fined for four separate violations:

Robert Eide, failure to file, $40,000

FINRA Investigates Jason Eric Zwibel In $2.6m Customer Dispute

May 3, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Jason Eric Zwibel (CRD# 2460258, aka, Jay Bell Zwibel) is a registered broker and investment advisor with Garden State Securities (CRD# 10083) in Wellington, FL. He has been with Garden State since 1/22/2010. He has worked as a broker since 1994, and previously worked for:

GunnAllen Financial, Inc. (CRD# 17609), Wellington, FL, from 06/22/2007 through 02/02/2010
Brookstreet Securities Corporation (CRD#14667), West Palm Beach, FL, from 08/24/1999 through 06/26/2007

Silver Law Group is Investigating Logan Burch Phillips, Jr. of Raymond James & Associates

May 3, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is currently looking into customer allegations against Logan Burch Phillips, Jr. (CRD #1248589.) Phillips is a previously registered broker who last worked as a broker for Raymond James & Associates (CRD #705) in Jackson MS, from 2013 to 2016. He was previously employed by Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc. (CRD #4161, also in Jackson, MS) from 1990 through 2013, and by Scharff & Jones, Inc. (CRD# 745, no location listed) from 1974 through 1990. He is not currently registered as a broker, investment advisor or other financial services professional, and no current employment information is available.

Since 2009, Phillips has been the subject of nine customer disputes that were settled or withdrawn, with one denial. Two recent disputes were filed in 2017 and are currently pending.

The first dispute was filed on June 27, 2017, and included activity from June 2004 through October of 2017, and include allegations of “Fraud, Concealment, Unsuitability, Breach of Contract, Negligence, Gross Negligence, Bad Faith and Violations of SEC and FINRA Rules. Date of Activity: 6/2004 thru 6/2013.” The claimants have requested damages of $800,000.

Silver Law Group is Investigating Scott William Palmer of Janney Montgomery Scott, LLC

May 3, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is currently investigating former financial advisor and broker Scott William Palmer (CRD #817586) after multiple customer disputes. His last employer was Janney Montgomery Scott, LLC (CRD# 463) of Hackensack, NJ, from 03/02/2007 to 06/13/2017. Palmer is not currently registered as a broker or investment advisor, and no record of current employment is available.

Palmer was previously employed with:

Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (CRD# 7059) in Ridgewood, NJ, from 06/22/1994 through 02/01/2007

Silver Law Group is Investigating Edward Vincent Mirabella, Jr. of National Securities Corporation

May 3, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is investigating former broker Edward Vincent Mirabella, Jr. (CRD #2843670) for multiple customer complaints. His last known employer was National Securities Corporation in their Edison, NJ location (CRD #7569), from 08/24/2009 to 05/13/2016.

Mirabella was previously employed with:

Aura Financial Services (CRD #42822) in Islandia, NY, from 03/27/2008 – 07/01/2009

Silver Law Group is Investigating Richard Shotz of Wells Fargo

May 1, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Richard Shotz (CRD# 1681893) has been with Wells Fargo in Daytona Beach, Florida since 2016. He was recently terminated from Wells Fargo due to a FINRA regulatory action against him in which Shotz was suspended for four months and ordered to pay fines. FINRA found that Shotz engaged in an unsuitable pattern of trading involving unit investment trusts (UITs) in his customers’ accounts. Shotz repeatedly recommended that his customers sell their UITs before their maturity dates; this caused the customers to incur unnecessary sales charges in their accounts.

Shotz has also been the subject of several customer disputes. In one settled claim from 2009, the Claimant alleged that Shotz placed him in unsuitable investments involving exchange traded funds (ETFs). In another settled dispute from 2003, the Claimant brought a claim regarding possible misrepresentations made in connection with Claimant’s life insurance policy; the case settled for over $15,000.

FINRA requires its members to “have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommended transaction or investment strategy” is suitable for a customer given their individual needs. FINRA also requires that its members refrain from engaging in fraudulent or deceptive practices with their customers.

Silver Law Group is Investigating Melvin Case of LPL Financial

May 1, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Melvin Case (CRD# 2393464) has been with LPL Financial in Jacksonville, Florida since 2008. In 2017, he was discharged from the firm in relation to a 2016 felony criminal charge in Duval County Circuit Court. Case pled guilty to exploitation of an aged adult and was sentenced to two years of probation. According to LPL Financial, Case was converting this elderly individual’s funds for his own personal benefit. This guilty plea also led FINRA to bring a regulatory action against Case in January 2018. FINRA found that Case failed to timely disclose his felony charge and guilty plea to the agency; he was suspended for six months and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.

Case has also been the subject of several customer disputes. In 2017, one of Case’s customers brought a claim alleging Case made misrepresentations and poor recommendations in connection with the customer’s purchase of variable annuities. In another dispute from 2004, a Claimant similarly alleged that Pruco Securities (Case’s former employer) and Case made unsuitable recommendations and misrepresentations in connection with insurance products purchased by the Claimant. That case settled for $100,000, with Case responsible for paying two-thirds of the settlement.

FINRA requires its members to “have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommended transaction or investment strategy” is suitable for a customer given their individual needs. FINRA also requires that its members refrain from engaging in fraudulent or deceptive practices with their customers.