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Articles Tagged with Wells Fargo Advisors

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Stoltmann Law Offices, P.C. is a Chicago-based securities, investor protection, and consumer rights law firm that offers victims representation on a contingency fee basis nationwide. We’ve represented investors who’ve suffered losses in connection with the recommendation to invest in variable annuity products.

One strategy that unscrupulous brokers employ is to switch clients out of variable annuities into other insurance products or mutual funds. This move, of course, generates even more commissions, but may not be in the best interest of their customers. With variable annuities, investors who cash out of them within a short period of time also may incur high “surrender” fees, which are onerous. Variable annuities – the more complex and costly version of low-cost fixed annuities – are often oversold by brokers and advisors. Due to high “surrender” fees, they may lock in investors for a certain period of time. Then they may be paying even more commissions and fees in new investments.

Such practices hurt investors and have caught the attention of FINRA, the securities industry regulator. FINRA recently fined Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network and Clearing Services more than $2 million for switching 100 clients from annuities to other products.  The regulator found that from January 2011 through August 2016, Wells Fargo “failed to supervise the suitability of recommendations that customers sell a variable annuity and use the proceeds to purchase investment company products, such as mutual funds or unit investment trusts.”

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Stoltmann Law Offices is investigating Donald Devito, a former registered broker with Wells Fargo. Mr. Devito was terminated from the bank in December 2016, after it was revealed the firm had concerns over the level of trading in client accounts. In 2016 through 2017, Devito has had six complaints filed against him concerning the level of trading and fees generated in his accounts. Customers have claimed that Devito violated securities laws by engaging in churning, unauthorized trading and unsuitable recommendations among other claims. This means the broker will trade in and out of securities, sometimes the same stock, many times over a short period of time. The account will sometimes “turnover” every month with different securities. This is only to profit the broker through the generation of commissions created by the trades, and serves no other purpose. Oftentimes, there are unnecessary fees related to the investments, that the client is forced to pay.

Mr. Devito was previously registered with Individual’s Securities from March 1983 until February 1984, Merrill Lynch in New York, New York from March 1984 until January 2000, Morgan Stanley in Albany, New York from January 2000 until February 2007 and Wells Fargo Advisors in Albany from February 2007 until December 2016. He has 10 customer disputes against him, one of which is currently pending. He is not currently registered as a broker within the industry.

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Like most brokerage firms, Milwaukee based Robert W. Baird includes a binding arbitration clause in its new account agreement with customers.  This means burned investors must arbitrate, rather than litigate, cases with the firm.  In recent years, Baird has got hammered hard by arbitrators for various violations of theindustry rules and regulations.

For example, A New York investment bank, Gleacher & Company, accused Robert W. Baird of conspiracy, competition and unfair other charges. This can be found at the link below.

http://archive.jsonline.com/business/regulator-orders-baird-to-pay-178-million-after-arbitration-hearing-b99522152z1-308185251.html

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According to a recent Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Award, Robert W. Baird was forced to pay Wells Fargo Advisors $10,856,166 in compensatory damages and the same amount in punitive damages, among other costs. Wells Fargo Advisors asserted unfair competition, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy, tortious interference with actual and prospective business and tortious interference with contractual relations, violations of FINRA rules of conduct and unjust enrichment. The firm alleges that these raids that resulted in the accusations, occurred at a Wells Fargo branch office in Wichita, Kansas. If you suffered losses with Robert W. Baird, you may be able to recover them in the FINRA arbitration forum on a contingency fee basis. We help investors recover their losses by bringing legal action against the firm. The call to us is free with no obligation.

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According to a recent Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Daniel John Myers, a Morgan Stanley broker, was fined $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any and all capacities for one year. Myers was accused of executing 26 unauthorized transactions in the account of a customer between January 2013 and March 2013. After the customer allegedly complained about the transactions, Myers settled the complaint away from the firm. From November 2012 until April 2013, Myers used an unapproved personal email account to conduct securities business, which is against securities rules and regulations.

Myers was registered with UBS Financial Services in New Haven, Connecticut fro November 2006 until March 2008, Morgan Stanley in New Haven from March 2008 until September 2014 and Wells Fargo Advisors in New Haven from September 2014 until August 2016. He has one customer dispute against him and one criminal disposition. He is not licensed within the industry.

Firms such as Morgan Stanley can be sued in the FINRA arbitration forum on a contingency fee basis to recover investment losses for individuals. We sue firms such as Morgan Stanley for failing to properly supervise their representatives. Please call our securities law firm in Chicago at 312-332-4200 to speak to an attorney about your options. The call to us is free with no obligation. Please call today as there is a statute of limitations on these sorts of cases.

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According to a recent OnWallStreet article, Angela Ostendarp, a Wells Fargo certified planner invested hundreds of thousands of dollars of a client’s money in mutual funds. The client needed the money to pay for his children’s education, buy a small farm and cover his living expenses. Ostendarp invested his money in a margin account and had a margin balance of more than $100,000. Ostendarp then had to sell off securities to pay off the heavily margined account. Ostendarp also told the client that his account was doing well, when it was not. The client suffered massive losses because of Ostendarp’s transgressions.

Angela Ostendarp was registered with Wachovia Brokerage Service, Wachovia Securities, Robert W Baird, and Northwestern Mutual Investment Services. She is currently registered with Wells Fargo Advisors in Charlotte, North Carolina and has been since June 2002. She has two customer disputes against her, one of which is currently pending.

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According to a recent Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Robert Tuffy, while a registered broker with Wells Fargo, executed six trades in two accounts of a customer, without receiving the customer’s authorization. For this, Tuffy was suspended from the industry for 20 business days and fined $5,000. According to his online FINRA BrokerCheck report, Tuffy was registered with McLaughlin, Piven, Vogel Securities, Americorp Securities, WJ Nolan & Co., Gruntal & Co., Ryan, Beck & Co., Janney Montgomery Scott and Wells Fargo Advisors in East Brunswick, New Jersey from September 2006 until November 2015. He has three customer disputes against him, one of which is currently pending. If you invested money with Robert Tuffy, please call our Chicago-based securities law firm today to speak to an attorney to discuss your options of bringing a claim against Wells Fargo for failing to properly supervise its registered representatives. We take cases on a contingency fee basis only.

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Stoltmann Law Offices is investigating Robert Edward Loftus, a former broker with Wells Fargo Advisors. According to a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Disciplinary Proceeding, Loftus allegedly deposited checks that were drawn on his personal checking account into the brokerage account he held with his member firm employer, Wells Fargo. Loftus knew that he lacked sufficient funds to cover the checks at the time. He did so to benefit from the “float” on the checks. This is when an individual takes advantage of the time it takes to use non-existent funds in a bank account. It is against securities rules and regulations. Loftus did so to artificially inflate the balance in his Wells Fargo account and to prevent four checks he had written against it from bouncing. He was terminated from the firm on July 2nd, 2013.

Robert Edward Loftus was registered with E.F. Hutton & Company, Oppenheimer & Co., Morgan Stanley, Montgomery Securities, Banc of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo in New York, New York from March 2009 until July 2013. He is currently registered with Arcadia Securities in New York and has been since July 2013. He has four judgments/liens against him. If you invested money with Loftus and would like to speak to an attorney about your options of recovering your financial losses, please call our securities law firm to speak to an attorney about your options. The call to us is free and there is no obligation.

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Did you or someone you know lose money with Jaime Jassid Menahern, a former broker with Wells Fargo Advisors? If so, please call our law offices in Chicago to speak to an attorney about your options of suing the firm. Because of their inability to reasonably supervise Menahern, Wells Fargo may be responsible for investment losses. The call to us is free with no obligation. We sue firms such as Wells Fargo in the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration forum for investors on a contingency fee basis, which means we do not get paid unless you recover money.

Menahern recently entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) after allegedly falsely representing on a wire transfer request form and to a firm investigator that he had personally confirmed a wire request with a customer over the telephone, which is in violation of FINRA rules. This caused Wells Fargo to maintain inaccurate books and records. For this, Jaime Menahern was suspended from the industry for 30 calendar days and fined $5,000.

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Stoltmann Law Offices is investigating Dennis Merritt, a Florida-based JW Cole Financial broker, who was recently sanctioned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Before being registered with JW Cole, Merritt was registered with Wells Fargo and was discharged. In March 2016, FINRA sanctioned him following allegations he engaged in private securities transactions in that he recommended customers invest in a product without reasonable grounds to believe it was suitable for them, and “falsely represented in an annual certification to his firm that he was complying with its policy prohibiting representatives from participating in private securities transactions.” For this, he was suspended from the industry for four months. Customers invested a total of $115,000 in the speculative investment. In 2013, Merritt was discharged from his position at Wells Fargo following allegations he referred customers to an investment not offered through his firm. This is against securities rules and regulations.

Merritt was registered with Wells Fargo Advisors in Palm Harbor, Florida from June 2009 until May 2013 and J.W. Cole Financial Inc. in Clearwater, Florida from March 2014 until June 2016. He is not currently registered with any member firm and is not licensed within the industry. Merritt’s former firm, Wells Fargo, may be responsible for investment losses because they had a responsibility to reasonably supervise him while he was employed with the firm. Because they did not, they can be sued in the FINRA arbitration forum on a contingency fee basis. Please call today for a free consultation.

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