Securities Lawyers Blog
Advisor Enrique Lopez (Lopez), currently employed by Arkadios Capital, has been subject to at least four customer complaints during the course of his career. According to a BrokerCheck report the customer complaints concern alternative investments such as direct participation products (DPPs) like non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), oil & gas programs, and private placements. Lopez discloses that he operates a number of outside businesses, some of which are investment related, including Cristobal Eden Partners, LLC, Lopez Brothers Distribution, LLC, Gallop Investment Partners, LLC, Cordero Diego, LLC, and Texas Regional Bank. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP have represented hundreds of investors who suffered losses caused by these types of high risk, low reward products.
In January 2020 a customer complained that Lopez violated the securities laws by alleging that Lopez engaged in sales practice violations related to recommending investments that were not suitable including non-traded REITs. The claim is currently pending.
In June 2019 a customer complained that Lopez violated the securities laws by alleging that Lopez engaged in sales practice violations related to between 2014 and 2016 advisor misrepresented and recommended unsuitable, concentrated investments in speculative real estate investment trusts. The investor also alleged that the advisor recommended an unsuitable annuity switch. The claim seeks $2,000,000 in damages and is currently pending.
DDPs include products such as non-traded REITs, oil and gas offerings, equipment leasing products, and other alternative investments. These alternative investments virtually never profit investors and are almost always unsuitable for investors because of their high fee and cost structure. Brokers selling these products are paid additional commission in order to hype these inferior quality investments providing a perverse incentives to create an artificial market for the investments. Continue Reading