Western International Securities

There are Recent Customer Complaints with Broker Christopher Kennedy in Firm Western International Securities, Inc.

March 6, 2025 | by Staff Attorney

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Christopher Kennedy (Kennedy), previously associated with Western International Securities, Inc., has at least 2 disclosable events. These events include 2 regulatory, alleging that Kennedy recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on January 23, 2025.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (‘Commission’) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted against Christopher Booth Kennedy (‘Kennedy’ or ‘Respondent’). In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Respondent has submitted an Offer of Settlement which the Commission has determined to accept. The commission finds that On January 10, 2024, a final judgment was entered by consent against Kennedy, permanently enjoining him from future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (‘Securities Act’) and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rules 10b-5 and 15l-1(a)(1) thereunder, as set forth in the judgment entered in the civil action entitled Securities and Exchange Commission v. Christopher Booth Kennedy, Civil Action Number 2:24-CV-10608, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The Commission’s complaint alleged that Kennedy made false and misleading statements regarding the value and success of his trading strategy, and sent one customer falsified account statements. In addition, the complaint alleged that between July 2020 and July 2021, Kennedy recommended a short-term, high-volume investment strategy in nineteen retail customer brokerage accounts without a reasonable basis that exceeded $363 million in total transactions, resulting in over $9 million in customers losses. The nineteen retail customer brokerage accounts paid approximately $1.277 million in total commissions, $958,134 of which was paid to Kennedy. As a result of the high volume of recommended transactions and their attendant commissions, it would have been virtually impossible for these retail customers to achieve a positive return in their brokerage accounts.

Broker David Karin in Western International Securities, Inc. Firm Has Customer Complaint

March 3, 2025 | by Staff Attorney

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker David Karin (Karin), currently associated with Western International Securities, Inc., has at least 4 disclosable events. These events include 4 customer complaints, alleging that Karin recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $50,000.00 on October 25, 2024.

Customer alleges that an investment recommendation was unsuitable and misleading.

There are Recent Customer Complaints with Broker Thomas Swan in Firm Western International Securities, Inc.

March 2, 2025 | by Staff Attorney

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Thomas Swan (Swan), currently associated with Western International Securities, Inc., has at least 5 disclosable events. These events include 5 customer complaints, alleging that Swan recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $60,000.00 on October 28, 2024.

Customer alleges that an investment recommendation was unsuitable and misleading.

Broker Oswaldo Ramos in Western International Securities, Inc. Firm Has Customer Complaint

February 24, 2025 | by Staff Attorney

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Oswaldo Ramos (Ramos), currently associated with Western International Securities, Inc., has at least one disclosable event. These events include one customer complaint, alleging that Ramos recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $80,000.00 on November 22, 2024.

Customer alleges that an investment recommendation was unsuitable and misleading. Investments purchased between June – October 2020.

There are Recent Customer Complaints with Broker Jeffrey Higgins in Firm Western International Securities, Inc.

February 21, 2025 | by Staff Attorney

The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP are currently investigating claims that Broker Jeffrey Higgins (Higgins) has been accused by investors of engaging in fraudulent misappropriation of their funds. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), it appears that Higgins was employed by Western International Securities, Inc. at the time of the activity. If you have been a victim of Higgins’s alleged misconduct our firm may be able to assist you in recovering funds.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $225,000.00 on December 13, 2024.

Misappropriation

There are Recent Customer Complaints with Broker Christopher Kennedy in Firm Western International Securities, Inc.

February 13, 2025 | by Staff Attorney

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Christopher Kennedy (Kennedy), previously associated with Western International Securities, Inc., has at least 2 disclosable events. These events include 2 regulatory, alleging that Kennedy recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on January 23, 2025.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (‘Commission’) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted against Christopher Booth Kennedy (‘Kennedy’ or ‘Respondent’). In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Respondent has submitted an Offer of Settlement which the Commission has determined to accept. The commission finds that On January 10, 2024, a final judgment was entered by consent against Kennedy, permanently enjoining him from future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (‘Securities Act’) and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rules 10b-5 and 15l-1(a)(1) thereunder, as set forth in the judgment entered in the civil action entitled Securities and Exchange Commission v. Christopher Booth Kennedy, Civil Action Number 2:24-CV-10608, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The Commission’s complaint alleged that Kennedy made false and misleading statements regarding the value and success of his trading strategy, and sent one customer falsified account statements. In addition, the complaint alleged that between July 2020 and July 2021, Kennedy recommended a short-term, high-volume investment strategy in nineteen retail customer brokerage accounts without a reasonable basis that exceeded $363 million in total transactions, resulting in over $9 million in customers losses. The nineteen retail customer brokerage accounts paid approximately $1.277 million in total commissions, $958,134 of which was paid to Kennedy. As a result of the high volume of recommended transactions and their attendant commissions, it would have been virtually impossible for these retail customers to achieve a positive return in their brokerage accounts.

Jeffrey Higgins Barred Over Misappropriation of Client Funds – Investor Recovery Options

November 9, 2024 | by Staff Attorney

The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP are currently investigating claims that advisor Jeffrey Higgins (Higgins) has been accused by multiple investors of engaging in fraudulent misappropriation of their funds. Higgins was barred by a regulator for engaging in undisclosed investment activities including undisclosed outside business activities (OBAs). According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), it appears that Higgins was employed by Western International Securities, Inc. (Western) and Financial West Group (FWG) at the time of the activity. However, Higgins also did business under the names Azzurra Wealth Management, LLC. If you have been a victim of Higgins’ alleged misconduct our firm may be able to assist you in recovering funds.

In June 2024 Western terminated Higgins for cause alleging that the firm was investigating the conduct of Higgins following his notification to Western that he had been misdirecting client investments and funds and misappropriating client investments and funds to his own use, starting in approximately 2007 at his prior broker-dealer firm, and that these activities have continued through to the current date.

On July 1, 2024, Higgins accepted a permanent industry bar with FINRA by failing to respond to the regulator’s requests for documents and information. According to FINRA, Higgins consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he refused to produce information and documents and refused to appear for testimony requested by FINRA during the course of a matter that originated from an examination by FINRA following a regulatory tip. FINRA found that Higgins’ member firm filed a Form U5 stating that he was discharged based on his notification to it that he had been misdirecting client investments and funds and misappropriating client investments and funds to his own use, starting at his prior broker-dealer firm, and that these activities have continued through to the date of termination.

Heath Goldstein Sold GWG Bonds and Investor Complaints

October 2, 2022 | by Staff Attorney

Advisor Heath Goldstein (Goldstein), currently employed by brokerage firm Western International Securities, Inc. (Western International) has been subject to at least 9 disclosures and customer complaints. According to a BrokerCheck report the customer complaints concern alternative investments such as direct participation products (DPPs) like business development companies (BDCs), non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), oil & gas programs, annuities, and private placements. In Goldstein’s case at least three of the complaints occurred from the sale of GWG Holdings L-Bonds. GWG went into bankruptcy. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP represented nearly 100 investors who suffered losses in GWG.

GWG’s business focused on the acquisition of life insurance policies in the secondary market. GWG was offered to investors even though the company had no significant operating history and no profits. Until 2018, GWG’s sole business was to borrow money to buy life insurance policies in the secondary market at prices that are less than the face value of the insurance benefits payable upon the death of the insureds. GWG would then hold the policies until maturity and collect the face value upon the insured’s death.

The contours of the GWG bonds are as follows:

Brokers Earned up to 8% commissions. From GWG’s prospectus “The total amount of the selling commissions…in the course of offering and selling L Bonds will not exceed 8.00% of the aggregate gross offering proceeds….” GWG Prospectus (Sept. 5, 2019).
GWG bonds are inadequately secured. While GWG claims that the L Bonds are secured by insurance portfolio, in the prospectus, the life insurance policies held by DLP IV and Life Trust “do not serve as direct collateral for the L Bonds” and have been “pledged as direct collateral securing” other debt obligations senior to L Bond investors.
GWG bonds are “auto-renewable.” Like a magazine subscription, unless an L bond investor gives notice ahead of the maturity date that they wish to redeem their investment, the bond is renewed automatically and replaced with a new one with the same terms and interest rate then being offered by GWG. This feature forces investors to be vigilant as expiration approaches.
GWG bonds are unlisted. This means the bonds are not tradable on any stock exchange. Because there is no market for the L Bonds there is no way for an investor to regularly gauge the value of an L Bonds or the credit worthiness of GWG based on market sentiment.
GWG bonds are not rated. L Bonds were not credit rated by any credit rating agency nor were they insured.

FINRA Accuses Megurditch Patatian of Falsifying Investor Financial Information to Sell REITs

October 19, 2021 | by Staff Attorney

Advisor Megurditch Patatian (Patatian), formerly employed by brokerage firm Western International Securities, Inc. (Western International) has been subject to at least 13 disclosures of which nine are customer complaints, three are employment terminations for cause, and one is a regulatory action. According to a BrokerCheck report several of the customer complaints concern alternative investments such as direct participation products (DPPs) like business development companies (BDCs), non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), oil & gas programs, annuities, and private placements. 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 February 2021 FINRA filed a complaint against Patatian alleing that he made 81 recommendations to 59 customers to purchase non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs). According to FINRA, all of the recommendations were unsuitable because he lacked a reasonable basis to recommend the product to any investor. FINRA found that Patatian did not understand the basic features and risks associated with the non-traded REITs and failed to conduct reasonable diligence to understand the product. As part of the misconduct, FINRA alleges that Patatian caused customers to incur taxes and surrender fees by recommended that the customers surrender existing variable annuity policies when he failed to understand the adverse financial consequences of the surrenders. In one instance, FINRA claims that Patatian impersonated a customer in a telephone call with an insurance company to obtain the contract value and surrender fee for the variable annuity. Finally, in order to qualify investors for the REITs, FINRA claims that Patatian recorded inaccurate customer information on his member firm’s customer account and disclosure forms, including by overstating customers’ net worth and exaggerating customers’ years of investment experience. According to FINRA, Patatian inflated the customer’s net worth on the firm’s REIT paperwork in order to evade concentration limits on REIT investments.

Advisor Doron Kochavi Has Unsuitable Investment Complaints

October 16, 2021 | by Staff Attorney

The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating BrokerCheck records reports that broker Doron Kochavi (Kochavi), currently employed by Western International Securities, Inc. (Western International) has been subject to at least six customer complaints during the course of his career. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Western International’s customer complaints allege that Mr. Kochavi recommended unsuitable investments in various investments, among other allegations of misconduct relating to the handling of their accounts.

In October 2019, a customer complained that Mr. Kochavi violated the securities laws by alleging that Mr. Kochavi breached his fiduciary duty. The claim alleges $4,000,000.00 in damages and is currently pending.

In August 2002, a customer complained that Mr. Kochavi violated the securities laws by alleging that Mr. Kochavi engaged in the recommendation of unsuitable investments, breach of fiduciary duty, and a failure to disclose material information regarding the investments. Damages were granted in the amount of $35,000.

In addition, older claims also involved allegations of similar misconduct. Claims from 1997 and 1999 involved allegations that Mr. Kochavi engaged in the recommendation of unsuitable investments.