Securities Lawyers Blog
The investment fraud attorneys are currently investigating USA Financial Securities Corporation (USA Financial) broker Bradley Ford (Ford). According to BrokerCheck Records held by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Ford has been subject to eight customer disputes and three regulatory disputes. The majority of these disputes concern the misrepresentation of investments and documents to customers.
Most recently, in April 2018, a customer alleged from August 2013 to November 2016, Ford misrepresented that liquidity and penalty charges of fixed indexed annuities.
In June 2015, a customer alleged that Ford forged the customer’s signature on a strategy request form.
In March 2012, a customer alleged the insurance life policy that Ford recommended and placed the customer in was falsely represented. The case was settled at $450,000 in damages.
Ford has also been subject to various regulatory actions. In June 2009, the Kentucky Department of Insurance found that Ford misrepresented documents to customers by changing the state in which customers had signed their insurance contracts. The Kentucky Department of Insurance imposed a monetary penalty for the false representation.
The term “securities fraud” covers a range of illegal activities involving the deception of investors or the manipulation of the financial markets. Fraud includes false representations, unauthorized trading, value manipulation, and Ponzi schemes. Investors are protected against fraudulent securities activities by several different civil laws.
The number of complaints against Ford are unusual compared to his peers. According to newsources, only about 7.3% of financial advisors have any type of disclosure event on their records among brokers employed from 2005 to 2015. Brokers must publicly disclose reportable events on their CRD customer complaints, IRS tax liens, judgments, investigations, and even criminal matters. However, studies have found that there are fraud hotspots such as certain parts of California, New York or Florida, where the rates of disclosure can reach 18% or higher. Moreover, according to the New York Times, BrokerCheck may be becoming increasing inaccurate and understate broker misconduct as studies have shown that 96.9% of broker requests to clean their records of complaints are granted.
Ford entered the securities industry in 1987 and has been registered with USA Financial since January 2006. From April 2004 to December 2005, Ford was registered with Investors Capital Corp. From March 2000 to April 2004, Ford was registered with Intersecurities, Inc. From May 1999 to March 2000, Ford was registered with Park Avenue Securities LLC. From August 1993 to May 1999, Ford was registered with Guardian Investor Services Corporation.
Investors who have suffered losses may be able recover their losses through securities arbitration. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are experienced in representing investors in cases of false representations and security fraud. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.