Securities Lawyers Blog
The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP are currently investigating claims that advisor Michael Shillin (Shillin) has been accused by numerous clients of engaging in fraudulent investment activities including undisclosed outside business activities (OBAs) and private securities transactions. According to records kept by FINRA Shillin was employed by Alliance Global Partners at the time of the activity. If you have been a victim of Shillin’s alleged misconduct our firm may be able to assist you in recovering funds.
As reported by WEAU News, Shillin has been barred from working in the brokerage industry. FINRA has disclosed that Shillin refused to respond to the claims and complaints made against him. “In one of two new complaints, one count alleges that Shillin claimed to have purchased 20-thousand dollars in Space-X shares, but withdrew 25-thousand from their account. Another client writes that Shillin falsified documents to cover up a non-existent life insurance policy. This person wrote a check for nearly 30-thousand dollars for the policy.”
One of dozens of complaints filed relating to Shillin states “Each claimant alleges one or more of the following: that former FA misrepresented that he bought securities in claimants’ accounts when he did not actually buy them and presented claimants with documents that led them to believe the securities had been bought; represented that a claimant could obtain long-term care benefits under a rider to the claimant-spouse’s long-term care policy but never submitted the paperwork; failed to inform claimants that there were limits on penalty-free withdrawals from 401k accounts that had been rolled into an IRA; incorrectly represented to claimants they could withdraw from their IRAs when the withdrawals were prohibited transactions, and he prepared falsified accounting documents; improperly advised claimants they were eligible for a benefit under the Affordable Care Act and prepared a falsified Form 1099 reflecting a lower income; incorrectly advised claimants that investments in pre-IPO stocks would provide certain tax benefits, provided figures to include in tax returns, and represented that he would file the tax returns and forward payment to the IRS for claimants but failed to do so; incorrectly advised claimants on how much they could withdraw from their accounts to live on; and/or incorrectly advised claimants they could retire based on the purported performance of their portfolios.”
Our law firm has significant experience bringing cases on behalf of defrauded victims when their advisors engage in receiving loans from clients or selling securities sales through OBAs. The sale of unapproved investment products – is a practice known in the industry as “selling away” – a serious violation of the securities laws. In the industry the term selling away refers to when a financial advisor solicits investments in companies, promissory notes, or other securities that are not pre-approved by the broker’s affiliated firm. Sometimes those investments have some legitimacy but often times these types of investments can end up being Ponzi schemes or the advisor can be engaging in the conversion of funds.
However, federal securities laws and the FINRA rules require firms to monitor and supervise its employees in order to detect and prevent brokers from offering investments in this fashion. In order to properly supervise their brokers each firm is required to have procedures in order to monitor the activities of each advisor’s activities and interaction with the public. Selling away misconduct often occurs where brokerage firms either fail to put in place a reasonable supervisory system or fail to actually implement that system. Supervisory failures allow brokers to engage in unsupervised misconduct that can include all manner improper conduct including selling away.
In cases of selling away the investor is unaware that the advisor’s investments are improper. In many of these cases the investor will not learn that the broker’s activities were wrongful until after the investment scheme is publicized, the broker is fired or charged by law enforcement, or stops returning client calls altogether.
Shillin entered the securities industry in 2011. From August 2014 through June 2018 Shillin was registered with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. From May 2018 until October 2020 Shillin was associated with Alliance Global Partners out of the firm’s Altoona, Wisconsin branch office location.
Investors who have suffered losses are encouraged to contact us at (800) 810-4262 for consultation. Investors may be able recover their losses through securities arbitration. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are experienced in representing investors in cases of selling away and brokerage firms failure to supervise their representatives. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.