SEC Charges Two Ex-Brokers with Taking Client Funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently charged two ex-brokers, James Hugh Brennan III and Douglas Albert Dyer, with a court order to stop them from taking more client money. The SEC is alleging that the men took $5 million in client money, some of which they allegedly transferred to their wives’ bank accounts. The men owned a company called Broad Street Ventures, which they operated out of their hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Through Broad Street, they allegedly raised money to fund a series of other ventures, collectively known as the Scenic City Companies. The men collected from 240 investors starting in 2008. Most of the money collected was kept for themselves, or was hidden in their wives’ bank accounts. Both men had been unregistered in the industry for years.

Brennan was registered with Reynolds Securities, Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., Robinson-Humphrey/American Express, Raymond James, Mid-Atlantic Securities, Keogler, Morgan & Company, and First Allied Securities in San Diego, California from February 1996 until September 1996. He is not licensed within the industry. Dyer was registered with Raymond James, Mid-Atlantic Securities, Keogler, Morgan & Company and First Allied Securities, also in San Diego, from February 1996 until February 1997. He has one regulatory action against him, and is not licensed. Information for both men was obtained through FINRA’s BrokerCheck website.