National Securities Corporation Tag Archives

Broker Robert Mann Has Suitability Disputes

September 8, 2022 | by Staff Attorney

The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating BrokerCheck records reports that broker Robert Allan Mann (Mann), currently employed by B. Riley Wealth Management after the firm acquired National Securities Corporation (NSC) has been subject to at least three customer complaints during the course of his career. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Mann’s customer complaints alleges that Mann recommended unsuitable investments in various investments including allegations involving debt-corporate securities, mutual funds, real estate securities and common and preferred stock, among other allegations of misconduct relating to the handling of their accounts.

In January 2020, a customer complained that Mann violated the securities laws by alleging that Mann engaged in unsuitable investment advice. The damage amount requested was $175,000. The claim settled in the amount of $57,500.

In October 2014, a customer complained that Mann violated the securities laws by alleging that Mann engaged in unsuitable investment advice, and charged excessive commissions. The damage amount requested was $29,000. The claim settled in the amount of $12,500.

In June 2001, a customer complained that Mann violated the securities laws by alleging that Mann engaged in unsuitable investment advice, misrepresentation, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, unauthorized trading, fraud, inappropriate use of margin, and churning in the customer’s account. The damage amount requested was $185,000. The claim settled in the amount of $61,000.

National Securities Advisor Kevin Dziubela Has Suitability Customer Complaints

March 6, 2021 | by Staff Attorney

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial advisor Kevin Dziubela (Dziubela), currently employed by National Securities Corporation (National Securities) has been subject to at least three customer complaints during the course of his career. Dziubela’s customer complaints alleges that Dziubela recommended unsuitable investments in various equity based investments and makes allegations including breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation and omissions, and negligence among other allegations of misconduct relating to the handling of their accounts.

In August 2019 a customer complained that Dziubela violated the securities laws by alleging that Dziubela made investments recommendations that the client alleges involved breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation and omissions, and negligence. The claim alleges $200,000 in damages and settled for $60,000.

In April 2019 a customer complained that Dziubela violated the securities laws by alleging that Dziubela made investments recommendations that the client alleges involved breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation and omissions, and negligence. The claim alleges $48,231 in damages and is currently pending.

In February 2015 a customer complained that Dziubela violated the securities laws by alleging that Dziubela made investments recommendations that the client alleges involved breach of fiduciary duty and negligence. The claim alleges $900,000 in damages and settled for $45,000.

Mark Cline Subject to Customer Complaints Over Private Placement Sales

October 4, 2020 | by Staff Attorney

The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating BrokerCheck reports that financial advisor Mark Cline (Cline), currently employed by National Securities Corporation (National Securities) has been subject to at least 12 customer complaints and one criminal matter during the course of his career. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Cline’s customer complaints involves the sale of private placements. The complaints allege that Cline recommended unsuitable investments in these private placements.

At Gana Weinstein LLP, we often hear from investors who were recommended by their advisors to purchase high risk private placement investments and suffered substantial – often crushing losses as a result. Our firm regularly represents these investors in disputes with the advisors and brokers who sold these products without adequate disclosure. Brokers have a responsibility to conduct due diligence on all private placement offerings. Due diligence includes an investigation into the investment’s properties including its benefits, risks, tax consequences, issuer, history, and other relevant factors.

Private placements are bond, equity, or other debt instruments issued in reliance on a statutory or rule-based exemption from the registration requirements administered by the (SEC). The private placement industry was created based upon the reasoning that exempting private placements from registration is appropriate where purchasers have the economic ability, sophistication, and the professional advice necessary to do without the regular protection afforded by the disclosures required through registration. According to sources, a total of $33.5 billion was raised in 647 transactions through the third quarter of 2018.

Michael Burkoff Has Investor Complaint Over Structured Products Sales

June 30, 2020 | by Staff Attorney

The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating BrokerCheck records reports that financial advisor Michael Burkoff (Burkoff), currently employed by National Securities Corporation (National Securities) has been subject to at least four customer complaints and one criminal matter during the course of his career. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Burkoff’s one of customer complaints alleges that Burkoff recommended unsuitable investments in various investments such structured products among other allegations of misconduct relating to the handling of their accounts.

In December 2019 a customer complained that Burkoff violated the securities laws by alleging that Burkoff engaged in sales practice violations related to unsuitable trading and breach of fiduciary duty relating to the sale of structured products. The claim alleges $150,000 and is currently pending.

In August 2015 a customer complained that Burkoff violated the securities laws by alleging that Burkoff engaged in sales practice violations related to poor advice. The claim was denied by the firm.

Structured products range in risk from benign to extreme. However, most structured products produce inferior risk/return profiles than ordinary debt or equity instruments because the brokerage firms that issue these products seek to profit from the spread between the payment to investors and the amount of money the brokerage firm can make from the issuance. When dealing with some of the more complex structured products most investors will lack the ability to understand the merits of investments nor are many structured products appropriate for investors seeking a fixed or reliable income and preservation of capital.

William Braun Has Complaints Over Private Placement Sales Practices

May 11, 2020 | by Staff Attorney

Advisor William Braun (Braun), currently employed by National Securities Corporation (National Securities), has been subject to at least eight customer complaints and regulatory action during the course of his career. According to a BrokerCheck report some of the customer complaints concern private placements. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP have represented hundreds of investors who suffered losses caused by these types of high risk products.

In January 2020 a customer complained that Braun violated the securities laws by alleging that Braun engaged in sales practice violations related to breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and unsuitable recommendations concerning investment(s) in private placements. The claim alleges $125,000 and is currently pending.

In November 2019 a customer complained that Braun violated the securities laws by alleging that Braun engaged in sales practice violations related to unsuitable recommendations concerning investment(s) in private placements. The claim alleges $200,000 and is currently pending.

Andre Davis Accused by Multiple Clients of Churning Their Accounts

September 21, 2019 | by Staff Attorney

According to BrokerCheck records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Andre Davis (Davis), currently associated with Paulson Investment Company LLC (Paulson Investment), has been subject to at least 15 customer complaints and two criminal matters during his career. The majority of the customer complaints against Davis concern allegations of high frequency trading activity also referred to as churning.

In August 2019 a customer complained that Davis made unsuitable investment recommendations, excessive trading, and unauthorized trading. The claim alleges $350,000 in damages and is currently pending.

In June 2019 a customer complained that Davis churned their account and made unauthorized trades. The claim alleges $152,400 in damages and is currently pending.

In May 2019 a customer complained that Davis violated the securities laws by excessive trading, unauthorized trades, and unsuitable investments. The claim alleges $461,000 in damages and is currently pending.

In April 2019 a customer complained that Davis violated the securities laws by excessive trading and unauthorized trades. The claim alleges $300,000 in damages and is currently pending.

When brokers engage in excessive trading, sometimes referred to as churning, the broker will typical trade in and out of securities, sometimes even the same stock, many times over a short period of time. Often times the account will completely “turnover” every month with different securities. This type of investment trading activity in the client’s account serves no reasonable purpose for the investor and is engaged in only to profit the broker through the generation of commissions created by the trades. Churning is considered a species of securities fraud. The elements of the claim are excessive transactions of securities, broker control over the account, and intent to defraud the investor by obtaining unlawful commissions. A similar claim, excessive trading, under FINRA’s suitability rule involves just the first two elements. Certain commonly used measures and ratios used to determine churning help evaluate a churning claim. These ratios look at how frequently the account is turned over plus whether or not the expenses incurred in the account made it unreasonable that the investor could reasonably profit from the activity.

Broker Rick Konecny Has Several Suitability Complaints

September 20, 2019 | by Staff Attorney

The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP are currently investigating claims that advisor Rick Konecny (Konecny) engaged in violations of the securities laws. Konecny, formerly registered with National Securities Corporation (National Securities) and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JP Morgan) out of Chicago, Illinois was barred from the financial industry according to a BrokerCheck report. In addition, Konecny has been subject to at least eleven customer complaints, three regulatory actions, and one termination for cause during his career. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), many of the complaints against Konecny concern allegations of unsuitable investments.

In March 2016, Konecny was terminated J.P. Morgan Securities LLC over allegations of his failure to escalate client matters and failed to follow requirements with respect to execution of trades on a discretionary basis.

In April 2018, a customer alleged that from 2008 to 2013, Konecny’s recommendation of high-risk mining and metal equities was unsuitable to the customer’s investment needs. The customer requested $1,210,380 in damages.

In January 2018, a customer alleged that from July 2013 to October 2015, Konecny invested the account in an unsuitable and over concentrated manner causing $81,856.00 in damages. The claim settled for $2,768.

Edward Mirabella Subject to Multiple Customer Complaints for Unsuitable Unauthorized Transactions

July 29, 2018 | by Staff Attorney

The securities attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are currently investigating previously registered broker Edward Mirabella (Mirabella). According to BrokerCheck records kept by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Mirabella has been subject to 5 customer disputes, 2 of which are still pending. Mirabella has also been subject to two tax liens. The majority of these disputes involve unsuitable investment recommendations, unauthorized trading, and breach of fiduciary duty.

Most recently, in November 2017, a customer alleged that Mirabella churned the customer account and engaged in unsuitable investment transactions. The customer has requested $879,584 in damages. This dispute is currently still pending.

In January 2014, a customer alleged that Mirabella was executing unauthorized trades in the customer account. The customer has requested $40,000 in damages. This complaint is currently still pending.

Advisor Jonathan Iraggi Terminated Over Unauthorized Trading

October 26, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

According to BrokerCheck records financial advisor Jonathan Iraggi (Iraggi), currently associated with National Securities Corporation (National Securities), has been subject to two customer complaints and one employment separation for cause. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Iraggi has been accused by customers of unauthorized trading among other claims.

In July 2017, Iraggi was permitted to resign from Garden State Securities, Inc. (Garden State) after allegations were made that the broker engaged in unauthorized trading. Also in July 2017 a customer filed a complaint against Iraggi stating damages of $22,000 caused by unauthorized trades. The claim was denied by the firm. In 2015 another customer filed a complaint also claiming unauthorized trading.

Advisors are not allowed to engage in unauthorized trading. Such trading occurs when a broker sells securities without the prior authority from the investor. All brokers are under an obligation to first discuss trades with the investor before executing them under NYSE Rule 408(a) and FINRA Rules 2510(b). These rules explicitly prohibit brokers from making discretionary trades in a customers’ non-discretionary accounts. The SEC has also found that unauthorized trading to be fraudulent nature because no disclosure could be more important to an investor than to be made aware that a trade will take place.

FINRA Bars Michael Siegel For Failing to Cooperate with Regulatory Investigation

February 4, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

Our securities fraud attorneys are investigating customer complaints filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against Michael Siegel (Siegel) formerly associated with National Securities Corporation – d/b/a HudsonPoint Capital – alleging Siegel engaged in a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, unauthorized trading, and churning (excessive trading) among other claims. The claim filed in July 2016 seeks $2,016,064 in damages.

Thereafter, FINRA barred Siegel from the securities industry alleging that the broker failed to respond to the regulator’s requests for documents and information.

When brokers engage in excessive trading, sometimes referred to as churning, the broker will typical trade in and out of securities, sometimes even the same stock, many times over a short period of time. Often times the account will completely “turnover” every month with different securities. This type of investment trading activity in the client’s account serves no reasonable purpose for the investor and is engaged in only to profit the broker through the generation of commissions created by the trades. Churning is considered a species of securities fraud. The elements of the claim are excessive transactions of securities, broker control over the account, and intent to defraud the investor by obtaining unlawful commissions. A similar claim, excessive trading, under FINRA’s suitability rule involves just the first two elements. Certain commonly used measures and ratios used to determine churning help evaluate a churning claim. These ratios look at how frequently the account is turned over plus whether or not the expenses incurred in the account made it unreasonable that the investor could reasonably profit from the activity.