Securities Attorney, Lars Soreide, of Soreide Law Group was recently quoted in an article from the Reno Gazette-Journal, written by Jaclyn O’Malley regarding former broker Gary Harrison Lane. The quote reads as follows:

“Florida securities attorney Lars Soreide said Tuesday he has represented a few clients who have recently settled with broker firms connected to Lane, that he accused of negligently superivising Lane’s activities and “selling away” investments. He said he could not give specifics because the civil cases were resolved under confidential agreements. Soreide said had the brokers properly supervised Lane, they would have uncovered the fraud.”

Soreide Law Group first brought attention to Gary Lane in the website blog entitled, “ATTENTION CLIENTS OF GARY LANE,” dated October 7, 2011. Since then, Lane was indited on federal charges. The above article from the website blog listing the award for Mr. Soreide’s clients, was dated September 5, 2011.

Gary Harrison Lane had worked for Banc of America Investment Services in Reno, Nevada, from July 1999 through October 2009 and for Merrill Lynch in Reno, Nevada, from October 2009 through March 2011, where he was terminated for the alleged improprieties. Lane allegedly targeted inexperienced investors, and the elderly. He is accused of a Ponzi scheme which had bilked his clients over $2 million.

Securities Attorney, Lars Soreide, successfully settled the claims in favor of his clients though a FINRA arbitration.

If you or a loved one experienced financial losses because of Gary Harrison Lane, call Soreide Law Group, and speak to an attorney regarding potential recovery of YOUR losses. Please call 888-760-6552 or visit us on the web at http://www.securitieslawyer.com.

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The FBI is investigating two former Edward Jones brokers based in South Dakota for their role in a “selling-away” case that involved raising money from clients who invested in an alleged Ponzi scheme writes Bruce Kelly in a September 28, 2011, article in InvestmentNews.com.

Kelly writes that according to Jones, a client brought the matter of Gibraltar Partners Inc. to the firm’s attention in March. As a result of its investigation, during which the company learned that the Justice Department was in the middle of a criminal investigation of Gibraltar Partners, Edward Jones fired the brokers, Jones spokesman John Boul wrote in an e-mail.

“A small number of Edward Jones clients have invested money in this scheme, away from the firm,” Mr. Boul wrote. “The firm is currently negotiating settlements with these clients.”

Edward Jones is one of the largest brokerage firms in the country. It has more than 12,000 brokers, most of them operating from one- or two-man offices. “Selling away” is one of the most common difficulties independent and franchisee broker-dealers face in their oversight of registered reps. Such reps typically operate in one- or two-man offices and have no branch manager looking over their shoulders on a day-to-day basis. Cases typically involve a broker selling a financial product that the broker-dealer did not approve or know about, with the investment vehicle blowing up and harming the client’s portfolio.

The InvestmentNews.com artcle goes on to say that a group of investors in June sued Gibraltar Partners in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, alleging that Gibraltar and others, including the Rahfco Funds LP, were running an alleged Ponzi scheme. Investors are seeking $100 million in damages in that suit. Jones was not named in that lawsuit. Gibraltar Partners could not be reached to comment.

The names of the former Jones brokers allegedly involved in the matter were not revealed by Jones.  “Other investors who are not clients of Edward Jones also invested in Gibraltar” and that the firm is cooperating with federal and state authorities.

Securities Attorney, Lars Soreide, of Soreide Law Group, PLLC, has represented clients nationwide. If you feel you have become a victim of these brokers associated with Edward Jones or other brokerages, by investing in the alleged Ponzi Scheme, Gibralter Partners, Inc., call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer for a free consultation on how to potentially recover your losses. To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.securitieslawyer.com

Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

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In an October 2nd, 2011, InvestmentNews.com article, Bruce Kelly writes that stockbrokers who sell products that promise high returns without the approval of their broker-dealers once again have become a leading concern for state securities regulators.

This practice is known as “selling away,” and is one of the most common difficulties that independent and franchisee broker-dealers face in their oversight of registered representatives.

Independent broker-dealers, including Edward Jones, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., and Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., have had former brokers investigated this year for their roles in alleged selling-away schemes.

Kelly writes that such reps typically operate in one- or two-man offices and have no branch manager looking over their shoulders on a day-to-day basis. Cases typically involve a broker’s selling a financial product that the broker-dealer didn’t approve or know about, with the investment vehicle blowing up and harming the client’s portfolio.

“There’s been an increase in selling away,” said Matt Kitzi, Missouri securities commissioner and head of the enforcement section for the North American Securities Administrators Association Inc., which represents state securities regulators.

“When the financial crisis hit, brokers and agents were left with clients who weren’t happy with the investment options they were offered. Some brokers, also looking to supplement their income, went outside the traditional market, trying to find other products to push,” Mr. Kitzi said.

Bob Webster, a spokesman for NASAA, said that he had no data from 2009 about selling away, so he couldn’t say if the number of cases regulators reported last year indicated an increase or decrease of selling-away incidents.

“Investors may have been a little more ripe for those kinds of unsolicited pitches, but I doubt that many investors approached their broker specifically looking for an off-books investment opportunity,” Mr. Kitzi said. “The mistake for brokers is using products outside the firm’s rules and the regulators’ requirements.”

According to NASAA’s 2011 survey of state securities enforcement officials, selling away ranked eighth last year on a list of the top 10 industry violations not involving fraud, with 54 reported enforcement actions against registered members of the securities industry. 

PROMISSORY NOTES

The InvestmentNews.com article goes on to say that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February charged Thomas Keough, a broker based in Massachusetts and formerly affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services Inc., with illegally selling unregistered promissory notes for a subprime auto lender in a scheme that raised $110 million from hundreds of investors. Investors who bought the promissory notes were promised returns of 9% to 15%, according to the SEC, Mr. Keough make more than $500,000 in referral fees between 2004 and 2009, the SEC said.

Additionally,  former Woodbury Financial broker Joshua Gould was sentenced in July to 97 months in prison by a Missouri federal judge for a variety of actions, including selling unregistered securities in private businesses. Mr. Gould touted those investments as “unconventional” and bringing “an increased rate of return,” according to statements by Missouri officials.

Kelly states that the firms don’t face charges from the regulators about the selling-away cases, but they do face client lawsuits in securities arbitration stemming from the brokers’ alleged actions.

Securities Attorney, Lars Soreide, of Soreide Law Group, PLLC, has represented clients nationwide. If you or a family member  feel you have become victims of  ’selling away’ by your broker-dealer, call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer for a free consultation on how to potentially recover your losses.  To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.securitieslawyer.com

Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA  the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

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