Boca Raton Florida Investment Fraud Lawyer - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Apr 27, 2015

Former NYLIFE Securities Broker Barred by FINRA for Converting Funds of an Elderly Investor

William Robert Kinyon, a former registered representative with the Castleford, Idaho branch of NYLIFE Securities LLC (NYLIFE Securities) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the entry of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he converted funds from an elderly customer’s account for personal use. According to FINRA, William Kinyon’s elderly brokerage customer told him that she wanted to deposit $3,000 into one of her variable annuity accounts. Mr. Kinyon, however, deposited the check into his personal checking account and allegedly used the funds to make multiple personal purchases at stores such as Walmart and Costco.

Mar 16, 2015

WFG Investments Hit with $700,000 Fine for Due Diligence and Supervision Lapses

WFG Investments, Inc. of Dallas, Texas submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm consented to, but it did not admit to or deny, the described sanctions and the entry of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that it failed to conduct appropriate due diligence and supervision with respect to a private placement offering and that a registered representative sold an investment away from the firm as an approved private securities transaction. FINRA found that in various times between March 2007 and January 2014, “the Firm failed to commit the necessary time, attention and resources to an array of critical regulatory obligations related to its supervision of registered representatives.” Clients who invested in the private placement offering allegedly lost their entire investment. FINRA also found that WFG Investments failed to supervise its representatives, who allegedly recommended the sale of high risk equity and ETF purchases for a retired client with conservative risk tolerance. In addition, WFG Investments failed to supervise a representative’s private securities transactions. According to FINRA, the WFG representative allegedly structured and sold two funds that had substantial investments (exceeding the 50% limit) without investors’ knowledge. All private placement investors allegedly “lost 100% of their investments resulting from a related entity’s fraudulent business practices.” Consequently, WFG Investments was censured and fined $700,000 by FINRA.

Nov 7, 2014

FINRA and the SEC Issue Alert to Warn Investors of Penny Stock Scams

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have issued an alert to warn investors of fraudulent penny stock scams touting what may essentially be stocks of dormant shell companies which have little to no business operations or non-cash assets and pose the threat of substantial financial losses for those who invest in them. The SEC’s alert notes that fraudsters use dormant shell companies in what are known as pump-and-dump schemes. These schemes involve the buying of shares in the shell company, claiming the company to be a great investment opportunity, even hyping up the company with aggressive marketing and the announcing of new management or re-incorporation, possibly under a new name. All of these tactics are meant to “pump” the company stock back to life, thereby creating more trading and getting the stock prices to shoot up.