annuity attorney

Advisor Herbert Shiraishi Has Several Variable Annuity Sales Practice Complaints

October 1, 2019 | by Staff Attorney

The securities attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating advisor Herbert Shiraishi (Shiraishi), currently registered with Independent Financial Group, LLC (Independent Financial) out of Honolulu, Hawaii and Hilo, Hawaii. According to a BrokerCheck report, Shiraishi has been subject to at least four customer complaints and one employment termination for cause during his career. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), many of the complaints against Shiraishi concern allegations of variable annuity sales practices.

In May 2018 a customer filed a complaint alleging that Shiraishi’s investments in variable annuities were unsuitable to the customer’s needs. The customer requested $25,500 in damages. The claim was closed.

In January 2017 a customer alleged that Shiraishi failed to disclose his purchase of a variable annuity to the customer causing $7,708 in damages. The claim was denied.

Broker Michael Arteca Has Several Complaints Over Alternative Investments

September 10, 2019 | by Staff Attorney

The securities attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating advisor Michael Arteca (Arteca), currently registered with Pruco Securities, LLC. (Pruco) out of Uniondale, New York. According to a BrokerCheck report, Arteca has been subject to at least five customer complaints during his career. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), many of the complaints against Arteca concern misrepresentation in the purchase of alternative investments and direct participation products (DPPs) such as non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), oil & gas programs, annuities, and equipment leasing programs. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP have extensive experience handling investor losses caused by these types of products.

In May 2018 a customer alleged that Arteca made misrepresentation in the purchase of multiple REITs. The customer requested $200,000 in damages. The claim settled for $50,000.

In December 2017 a customer filed a complaint alleging that Arteca misrepresented multiple life insurance and variable annuity products. The customer requested $81,000 in damages. The claim settled for $64,227.

Broker Mark Lamendola Barred Over Annuity Practices

February 26, 2019 | by Staff Attorney

According to BrokerCheck records financial advisor Mark Lamendola (Lamendola), formerly employed by Wordl Capital Brokerage, Inc. (World Capital) has been subject to six customer complaints, two terminations for cause, and two regulatory actions during his career. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), many of the customer complaints against Lamendola concern allegations over variable annuity sales practices.

In January 2019, FINRA barred Lamendola alleging that Lamendola made misrepresentations to a customer by fabricating letters that purported to come from an annuity company regarding the status of the customer’s deposit. FINRA found that Lamendola wrote in each letter that the incorrect deposit was re-deposited into the correct account and the transaction was not reportable to the Internal Revenue Service. FINRA determined that Lamendola had mistakenly deposited the customer’s IRA contributions into his variable annuity account rather than his fixed annuity account. In addition, FINRA determined that Lamendola paid $15,999.55 to the customer to settle his verbal complaint regarding the mistaken IRA deposits.

In June 2018, Lamendola was discharged from World Capital due to his annuity practices.