On December 27, 2018, John G. Schmidt was charged in a 128 count indictment by the Montgomery County, Ohio Prosecuting Attorney. According to Investment News, the Prosecutor alleges that Schmidt, while employed a financial advisor for Wells Fargo Advisors, stole money from clients while operating a Ponzi scheme. The Prosecutor further alleges that Schmidt created fictitious…
Investors who are exposed to unscrupulous financial advisors are starting to feel some serious pain. If you have lost a substantial amount of money over the course of the last few months, and your account is on margin, it might get a lot worse. The good news is, your losses may be recoverable by filing…
The State of Indiana recently imposed a $450,000 civil penaltyagainst LPL Financial for failing to supervise the company’s financial advisors on a state-wide basis. The fine was based on two material deficiencies in LPL’s supervisory system. First, due to an alleged software glitch, LPL supervisors were not monitoring or supervising an undisclosed number of emails. There…
Stoltmann Law Offices is investigating Jon Pariser, of Pacific Grove, California, who consented to a lifetime bar from the securities industry. Jon Pariser refused to provide information in connection with a FINRA investigation into allegations that he had referred clients to an unregistered advisor who then recommended those clients invest money in unsuitable investments. More…
According to a recent InvestmentNews article, former broker Bradley Mascho allegedly failed to appear at a hearing with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Mr. Mascho was terminated from Western International Securities in December 2017. He and Dawn Bennett, who also worked at Western International, were the subjects of an investigation by the Securities and…
Stoltmann Law Offices continue to investigate broker Timothy Tilton Ayre of Massachusetts, who has been charged by FINRA with the unlawful distribution of unregistered cryptocurrency securities and fraud. The FINRA complaint alleges that Ayre bought the rights to HempCoin in 2015. He repackaged it as a security backed by his own company Rocky Mountain Ayre,…
Stoltmann Law Offices continue to investigate Securities America, after it was fined $175,000 by FINRA. Between August 2014 and January 2016, FINRA charged that brokers with Securities America, overlooked or violated suitability concerns with two classes of variable annuities that were sold. During this time frame, FINRA alleged that Securities America received close to $53…
Former Beverly Hills, California-based Stockcross Financial Services broker Herbert Voss was permanently barred from the financial services industry by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). This is according to a recent Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) signed by Mr. Voss, he consented to a permanent bar because he refused to answer questions levied…
Recently, United Kingdom-based Laidlaw & Co. was sanctioned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). According to the firm’s BrokerCheck report with FINRA, the firm has five regulatory sanctions against it. In May 2018, FINRA sanctioned Laidlaw in connection to allegations that it failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system, as well as written…
John Jumper, a former Memphis, Tennessee-based broker-dealer has been indicted on federal charges of embezzling $5.7 million from a Pennsylvania company’s employee pension fund. Federal prosecutors in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and securities regulators in Atlanta jointly issued news releases announcing charges against him. The criminal indictment in the state accuses John Jumper of forging signatures on…