Securities Lawyers Blog
According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), former Capitol Securities Management (Capitol Securities) employee Teryl Trenchard (Trenchard) in under investigation for fraud. In March 2017 FINRA initiated its investigation into Trenchard for fraud. On the same day Capitol Securities terminated Trenchard for the same reason. Thereafter, in July 2017 a customer filed a complaint alleging breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and unsuitable investments causing $700,000 in damages. The claim is currently pending.
Thereafter, in September 2017 another customer alleged that from 2005 to March 15, 2017 Trenchard engaged in misappropriation, forgery, fraud, and unauthorized trading in unsuitable transactions. The customer alleged $1,800,00 in damages. The claim is currently pending.
At this time it is unclear the extent and scope of Trenchard’s securities violations and the exact details of the fraud under investigation. Trenchard’s CRD lists a business called Market Technician’s Association and no other businesses.
Brokerage firms are responsible for implementing supervisory procedures to review and approve fund transfers and wires to ensure that funds are not being used for wrongful purposes or being converted.
The number of complaints against Trenchard are unusual compared to his peers. According to newsources, only about 7.3% of financial advisors have any type of disclosure event on their records among brokers employed from 2005 to 2015. Brokers must publicly disclose reportable events on their CRD customer complaints, IRS tax liens, judgments, investigations, and even criminal matters. However, studies have found that there are fraud hotspots such as certain parts of California, New York or Florida, where the rates of disclosure can reach 18% or higher. Moreover, according to the New York Times, BrokerCheck may be becoming increasing inaccurate and understate broker misconduct as studies have shown that 96.9% of broker requests to clean their records of complaints are granted.
Trenchard entered the securities industry in 1997. From January 2003 until June 2009 Trenchard was associated with Aegis Capital Corp. From May 2009 through March 2017 Trenchard was associated with Capitol Securities out of the firm’s Reston, Virginia office location.
Investors who have suffered losses may be able recover their losses through securities arbitration. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are experienced in representing investors in cases where brokers and other individuals have misappropriated client funds and brokerage firms failure to supervise their representatives. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.