Securities Lawyers Blog
The securities lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against broker Linda Dowd. According to BrokerCheck records, Dowd has been subject to employment separation from WFG Investments Inc. (WFG Investments) and one regulatory action. Linda Dowd has spent 27 years in the securities industry and was most recently registered with Sunbelt Securities, Inc. (Sunbelt Securities) out of the firm’s Carlsbad, California office location. Brokers and investment advisers that forge customer signatures constitute a form of securities fraud.
In July 2016, Linda Dowd was terminated from her position at WFG Investments and has been sanctioned by FINRA. According to FINRA, Dowd had a customer pre-sign distribution requests forms on at least 26 occasions to effectuate a verbal distribution request as an accommodation to the customer. The findings state Dowd additionally utilized a personal email address to create a perception of legitimate customer communications. Dowd was also alleged to have falsely advised the firm’s compliance personnel that she had received the customer’s completed and signed distribution requests via email. For this, Dowd was fined $5,000 and was issued a one-year suspension.
Dowd entered the securities industry in 1986. Linda Dowd was employed with WFG Investments Inc. from September 1995 through February 2015. From February 2015 until March 2015 Dowd was associated with Securities Service Network Inc. From March 2015 until December 2015 Dowd was associated with Royal Alliance Associates Inc. Finally, from February 2016 until June 2016 Dowd was associated with Sunbelt Securities Inc. out of the firm’s Carlsbad, California office location.
The number of events listed on Dowd brokercheck is high relative to her peers. According to InvestmentNews, only about 12% of financial advisors have any type of disclosure event on their records. Brokers must publicly disclose certain types of reportable events on their CRD including but not limited to customer complaints. In addition to disclosing client disputes brokers must divulge IRS tax liens, judgments, and criminal matters. However, FINRA’s records are not always complete according to a Wall Street Journal story that checked with 26 state regulators and found that at least 38,400 brokers had regulatory or financial red flags such as a personal bankruptcy that showed up in state records but not on BrokerCheck. More disturbing is the fact that 19,000 out of those 38,400 brokers had spotless BrokerCheck records.
Gana Weinstein LLP’s securities fraud attorneys represent investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts due to claims of fraud and negligence. The majority of these claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.