Securities Lawyers Blog
According to BrokerCheck records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), advisor Barbara Shaffer (Shaffer), currently employed at Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. (Cambridge), has been subject to at least four customer complaints during the course of her career. Several of those complaints against Shaffer allege that Shaffer engaged in authorized trading and recommended unsuitable investments, including into the GPB Ponzi scheme among other allegations of misconduct relating to the handling of their accounts. However, three of these complaints have been expunged from Shaffer’s record under FINRA’s notoriously flawed expungement procedures.
In January 2020, a customer complained that Shaffer violated securities laws by alleging that Shaffer engaged in negligent investment advice and breach of fiduciary duty. The claim alleged $100,000 in damages and settled for $45,000.
In another complaint, the customer alleged unsuitability and breach of fiduciary duty against focused on a $100,000 investment in GPB Automotive Fund, L.P. The GPB funds were later accused of being a Ponzi Scheme by many regulators and its executive officers have been indicted by the DOJ.