Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog

Broker Richard Drown Disappeared According to Firm

February 22, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Broker Richard Drown Disappeared According to Firm on silverlaw.com

Allegations of unauthorized trading and client abandonment tarnish 34-year career.

In June 2015, investment firm D.A. Davidson & Company formally discharged broker Richard G. Drown, Jr. after the broker allegedly “disappeared,” abandoning both his duties and his clients. According to Drown’s FINRA BrokerCheck report, the firm filed an Employment Separation After Allegations report, saying that his whereabouts remained unknown.

Pending customer disputes remain open on Drown’s FINRA record and involve allegations of unauthorized transactions and misappropriation of funds in two customer accounts owned by a mother and daughter. In particular, Drown is accused of transferring funds from the customer trust brokerage accounts to the trust’s outside bank accounts during two separate time periods.

Silver Law Group is Pursuing Claims Related to Former RBC Broker Paul Blum

February 19, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is investigating claims related to Paul Vincent Blum (CRD # 735003), a West Palm Beach, Florida, broker who was registered with RBC Capital Markets, LLC, from October 2008 until his termination in October 2015. RBC terminated Blum’s registration with the firm, putting his reason for discharge as due to “loss of confidence.” Silver Law Group recently was retained to file a FINRA arbitration claim on behalf of one of Blum’s former clients, who alleges that he has experienced significant investment losses stemming from Blum’s unsuitable recommendation to make concentrated investments in oil and gas.

We are currently investigating multiple claims against brokerage firms and stockbrokers for improperly recommending the unsuitable sale of energy stocks, bonds and MLPs frequently in large or overconcentrated positions. Some of the companies include:

Linn Energy

Churning, Other Allegations Made Against Broker Michael Doyle

February 18, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Churning, Other Allegations Made Against Broker Michael Doyle on silverlaw.com

After 7 complaints and millions in settlements, Doyle is suspended by FINRA

According to a FINRA BrokerCheck report, Michael Doyle has received complaints from seven clients and was suspended for failing to comply with an arbitration award and to respond to the FINRA’s request to provide information concerning the status of compliance.

The complaints against Doyle date back to March of 1998 when a customer alleged that her account was churned in relation to stock option trades. In addition to this complaint, numerous others would continue to be made against Doyle over the 17 years that followed.

Leon Vaccarelli Fined and Sanctioned by FINRA

February 18, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Leon Vaccarelli Fined and Sanctioned by FINRA on silverlaw.com

Connecticut broker agrees to one-month suspension and $7500 fine.

Leon Vaccarelli, a stockbroker registered with the Investment Center, was recently suspended from participating in the securities industry for one month and paid a $7500 fine to regulatory agency FINRA.

According to the report, registered representatives are prohibited from exercising discretion in a customer’s account unless the customer has given prior written authorization to exercise discretion and the account has been approved as discretionary, in writing, by the representative’s firm.

David Sullivan Accused of Excessive Trading on More Than One Occasion

February 17, 2016 | Silver Law Group

David Sullivan Accused of Excessive Trading on More Than One Occasion on silverlaw.com

Other allegations include unsuitable investments and unauthorized trading.

In the securities industry for 28 years, New York broker David J. Sullivan is the subject of yet another customer complaint against his behavior as a securities broker.

This most recent complaint alleges that on or about September 2011 through approximately December 2014, while associated with J.P. Morgan, Sullivan effected numerous transactions in three accounts of a customer without obtaining prior written authorization from the customer and without J.P. Morgan having accepted the accounts as discretionary.

William Slone’s 45-year Career Shows 14 FINRA Disclosure Events

February 16, 2016 | Silver Law Group

William Slone’s 45-year Career Shows 14 FINRA Disclosure Events on silverlaw.com

Broker William Slone’s most recent complaint alleges unauthorized securities trading.

Acting as a securities investment broker since 1969, William Slone faces yet another customer complaint regarding his activities. In November 2015, Slone consented to the sanctions and the entry of the findings that he effected discretionary transactions in the account of a customer without obtaining prior written authorization from the customer and without his member firm having accepted the account as discretionary in writing.

Throughout his career, Slone amassed a total of 10 customer disputes, 3 regulatory events, and 1 employment separation after allegations. Some of the allegations against him include unauthorized trading and forged margin form, unsuitability of investment and wrongful discretion, nondisclosure regarding receiving shares of company stock that he recommended to his customers to purchase, excessive trading, and effecting discretionary transactions without prior written authorization.

Have You Lost Money After Investing with Christopher F. Veale?

February 16, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Have You Lost Money After Investing with Christopher F. Veale? on silverlaw.com

As of August 18, 2015, Veale has been suspended by FINRA

With numerous complaints filed against him, several judgments, a felony charge and various other allegations after a lengthy career in the industry, Christopher Veale remains in hot water with FINRA.

The trouble for Veale began as early as August of 2000, when a customer complained that the then Rhode Island broker made unauthorized trades in their account. Although this dispute was denied, it was just the beginning of what would become a career fraught with allegations.

Did you lose investment money with Joshua Gladtke?

February 15, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Did you lose investment money with Joshua Gladtke? on silverlaw.com

This New York broker is permanently barred from the securities industry.

In November 2015, New York broker Joshua Gladtke consented to the sanction and entry of findings in a FINRA investigation. As a result, Gladtke is now permanently barred from the securities industry.

With 13 years in the securities industry, spent primarily with companies named with different versions of “Arjent” in their title and corporate filing, Gladtke’s record with FINRA began it’s decline in May 2015 when he was criminally charged with a felony in the New York State Supreme Court. According to BrokerCheck, the indictment included Gladtke and other defendants charged with a “number of criminal offenses related to a private placement offer of Pangaea Trading Partners, LLC conducted between 2010 and 2012.”

South Florida Broker, Walter Priebe, Receives FINRA Disciplinary Action

February 15, 2016 | Silver Law Group

South Florida Broker, Walter Priebe, Receives FINRA Disciplinary Action on silverlaw.com

Florida stockbroker suspended from securities activity for 6 months due to misconduct

Walter P. Priebe, from Pompano Beach, FL, is accused of engaging in outside business activities without telling his registered firm, Investacorp. Priebe worked for Investacorp between March 1989 and July 2014, when his position in that company was terminated.

The FINRA report alleges that Priebe served as a primary or successor trustee for numerous trusts that were associated with his firm (and was paid for this role). He did not, however, disclose this outside business role and on several occasions, indicated that he had fully disclosed all outside business associations.

FINRA Alleges Broker Gopi Vungarala Charged $11 million in Commissions for nontraded REITs and BDCs and Lied About it

February 15, 2016 | Silver Law Group

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (“FINRA”) charged a broker for lying to a Native American tribe about $11 million in commissions he accumulated when he sold the tribe $190 million in nontraded real estate investment trusts and business development companies.

According to the complaint, Gopi Krishna Vungarala (CRD# 4856193), the broker, served as the unnamed tribe’s registered representative as well as its treasury investment manager. Vungarala used his position to fraudulently induce the tribe to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in nontraded REITs and BDCs and repeatedly lied about whether he and his firm received commissions for the sales.

The complaint alleges that Vungarala falsely represented to the tribe that he would not receive any commissions on purchases of the non-traded REITs and BDCs made in the tribe’s accounts in order to induce the tribe to make the purchases.