Wade J. Lawrence and Southwest Securities: Suing to Recover Investment Losses

Stoltmann Law Offices is investigating Wade Lawrence, a former broker with Southwest Securities. From January 2012 until September 2013, Wade was accused of devising and engaging in a scheme to defraud and obtain funds from individuals. Many of the victims were personal business clients of his. Lawrence solicited money by falsely offering various investments for sale, including real estate ventures and other securities that were not offered by his firm, Southwest Securities. Some of the interests were extremely high-risk investments in options on the Volatility Index on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. He also solicited funds by falsely stating that their investments would be invested in a duplex. Others, he promised their investments would go into Facebook and Southwest Securities. This is referred to as “selling away” and is when a broker solicits securities that are not held or offered by his brokerage firm. This is against securities rules and regulations. Lawrence promised the investors that their returns would be anywhere from 20 to 100 percent and that their investments may double. Instead, he transferred the money he obtained from the victims into a personal bank account at Wells Fargo Bank in Dallas, Texas. He emailed fictitious account balances to the investors, so as to perpetuate his scheme.

Wade J. Lawrence was registered with MML Investors Services in Springfield, Massachusetts from May 2002 until February 2003, Merrill Lynch in Dallas, Texas from April 2003 until June 2008, Oppenheimer & Co. in Fort Worth, Texas from June 2008 until July 2011 and Southwest Securities in Dallas, Texas from August 2011 until December 2013. He has ten customer disputes against him, seven of which are currently pending. He is not licensed within the industry and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has permanently barred him from the industry, according to his FINRA BrokerCheck website. He also pleaded guilty to fraud in Texas as well as illegal securities trading practices. He turned himself in to law enforcement authorities in 2013.

Firms such as Southwest Securities have a duty and an obligation to reasonably supervise their registered representatives. If they do not, they can be held liable for investment losses. If you invested money with Wade J. Lawrence, please call our securities law firm in Chicago, Illinois for a free consultation with an attorney. There is no obligation and we take cases on a contingency fee basis, which means we do not get paid unless you recover money. We sue firms such as Southwest Securities in the FINRA arbitration forum. Please call as soon as possible, as time is of the essence in these particular cases. 312-332-4200.