Securities Lawyers Blog
According to BrokerCheck records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) advisor Minish “Joe” Hede (Hede), in April 2017, was terminated by his then employer Paulson Investment Company, LLC (Paulson Investment) subsequent to the initiation of customer arbitration claim alleging fraud, negligence and unjust enrichment and for failure to comply with internal investigation.
Also in April 2017 Hede was subject to an arbitration complaint alleging damages of $1,000,000 stemming from the sale of a promissory note and allegations of fraud, negligent misrepresentations, negligence, and unjust enrichment. The claim is currently pending.
At this time the extent and scope of Hede’s sales of this product is unknown. The only outside business activity disclosure Hede made publicly is that he is a silent partner in a restaurant called Prime 16. FINRA requires brokers to disclose their outside businesses because the risk to investors is that the broker will use such businesses to engage in unauthorized securities activities. The providing of loans or selling of notes and other investments outside of a brokerage firm constitutes impermissible private securities transactions – a practice known in the industry as “selling away”.