Gana Weinstein LLP, a nationally renowned securities and investment arbitration firm, is investigating Richard Martin, and his from firm G.F. Investment Services, LLC for making unsuitable investments to their customers. According FINRA’s BrokerCheck, Mr. Martin has 8 customer complaints served against him and/or his former firms concerning his activities. According to FINRA, four of the eight complaints have been settled. The first settled complaint was filed in 2006. The customer sued Global Strategic Investment, LLC, Mr. Martin’s employing firm at the time. The case settled less than one mouth after filing. The customer alleged that Mr. Martin and Global Strategic Investments failed to disclose mark-ups on bond purchases.
In 2009, another of Mr. Martin’s customers brought a case against Global Strategic Investments for alleging claims of unsuitable investments, churning, and negligence. That case settled for $8,000. In 2011, another customer of Mr. Martin brought a claim against his firm, GF Investment Services. The complaint alleged that her account was unsuitable and the case settled for $40,000. Another claim was brought against G.F. Investment Services and Latam Investment. The claim again was for the sale of unsuitable investments. The case settled for $127,500 before arbitration was commenced.
Three additional claims were brought by customers and closed with no action. Currently, there is one claim pending against G.F. Investment Services by Mr. Martin’s customer. The claim is for $500,000 in damages. The customer alleged unsuitable investments in relation to short sales and risky ETFs.