A National Securities Arbitration & Investment Fraud Law Firm
John Maloney (CRD #726108) has been employed by Woodbury Financial Services Inc. since June 2016. Maloney was previously employed by Edward Jones from January 1981 to June 2016.
According to the FINRA BrokerCheck, there have been several complaints against Mr. Maloney.
In 2016 Claimants allege Mr. Maloney’s recommendations to purchase individual equities were unsuitable. The complaint settled for $132,500.
Centaurus Financial has been the recipient of multiple FINRA actions, including 11 regulatory events and 8 reported arbitration claims. Not all of these are major issues, but they could be relevant to an investor doing business with Centaurus.
The SEC has strict rules about how a broker-dealer operates, runs their business and keeps records; any variation from these rules can trigger a sanction or other regulatory process. Centaurus has been the subject of multiple sanctions for various infractions and disputes filed by customers. For these regulatory sanctions, the company has paid $532,156.62 in penalties, fines and fees over the years. In some cases, there were no financial products involved or sold, only regulatory violations.
Centaurus has paid out $3,064,930.66 in securities arbitration awards and judgments.
CRD#5011069
Silver Law Group is investigating Former Albany, New York-based Purshe Kaplan Sterling broker Carlos Mejia after he settled a customer complaint alleging unsuitable investment recommendations.
CRD#265697
Silver Law Group is investigating former Melville, New York-based UBS Financial Services Inc broker Michael Keane, after multiple customer allegations of unsuitable investment recommendations where received by FINRA.
CRD#4121845
Silver Law Group is investigating The Woodlands, Texas-based Oppenheimer & Co broker David Krumrey following a customer complaint alleging unauthorized trading,
Silver Law Group is investigating former Memphis, Tennessee-based Wunderlich Securities Inc. (CRD#2543) broker David K. Mallett (CRD#5145838) over allegations that Mallett excessively traded customers’ accounts and made unsuitable recommendations.
According to Mallett’s FINRA BrokerCheck report, a customer filed a complaint in October of 2016 against Mallett alleging churning in the customer’s account and further that he made unsuitable recommendations. Further, the customer alleges that Mallett’s employing firm, Wunderlich Securities (CRD#2543), failed to supervise Mallett.
Wunderlich has employed Mallett from June 2016 to present day at its Memphis.
Silver Law Group is investigating former Clearwater, Florida broker Dennis M. Merritt (CRD# 1748115) after FINRA suspended him for four months and his employing firm terminated him for alleged unsuitable recommendations among other things.
In March 2016, FINRA and Merritt entered into an order accepting offer of settlement (the “Order”). The Order accepted the punishment without admitting or denying the allegations in the Complaint.
The Complaint alleged that Merritt invested a total of $115,000 in a speculative investment without providing written notice to his member firm prior to participating in the private securities transactions.
Independent financial adviser network Cetera Financial Group has taken steps toward relocating advisers at J. P. Turner & Co. after making the decision to close the firm. According to Investment News, about 50 percent of its current advisers have been invited to join Summit Brokerage Services Inc. while the remainder are reportedly being redistributed elsewhere among the firms under Cetera’s umbrella.
The firm’s closure may come as little surprise to those who are aware of its reputation. Investment News InvestmentNews reports Pershing LLC did not want to allow J.P. Turner on its platform. Pershing provides “global financial solutions” to advisers and broker-dealers, according to its website.
On June 1, 2015 the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Greenwich, Connecticut-based AlphaBridge Capital Management and its two owners with fraudulently inflating the prices of securities in funds they managed. These inflated valuations caused the funds to pay higher management and performance fees to AlphaBridge.
According to the SEC news release, AlphaBridge Capital Management and its owners – Thomas T. Kutzen and Michael J. Carino – “told investors and its auditor that it obtained independent price quotes from broker-dealers for certain unlisted, thinly-traded residential mortgage-backed securities.” In fact, what the firm did was give “internally-derived valuations to broker-dealers to pass off as their own.”
The old adage “don’t believe everything you hear or read” rings true in the case of a recent Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Investor Alert. This particular alert warns investors about financial professionals that may misrepresent their backgrounds and professional experience to lure investors into investment schemes.
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