Silver Law Group is Investigating Melvin Case of LPL Financial
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.