Securities Lawyers Blog
The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP are currently investigating claims that advisor Antonio Puente (Puente) has been accused by a securities regulator of potentially engaging in the sales of private securities among other allegations. Puente was barred by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) concerning his private securities sales conduct. According to BrokerCheck records, Puente was formerly registered with FINRA member firm Valic Financial Advisors, Inc. (Valic Financial). If you have been a victim of Puente’s alleged misconduct our firm may be able to assist you in recovering funds.
In August 2018 Valic Financial terminated Puente alleging that he was terminated following conclusion of investigation into undisclosed outside business activity. Then in January 2020 FINRA found that Puente consented to sanctions and findings that he refused to provide testimony requested by FINRA in connection with its investigation into whether he potentially violated FINRA rules by engaging in undisclosed outside business activities and/or private securities transactions.
According to Puente’s publicly disclosed records the he has no disclosed outside business activities.
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. Continue Reading