The following summation was obtained on FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary and Other FINRA Actions, October, 2013.”
Christopher Shawn Vaughn (CRD #4956822, Registered Representative, Leesburg, Florida)
was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Vaughn consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he engaged in a scheme to convert securities owned by an 82-year-old customer Vaughn befriended.
FINRA's findings stated that without the customer’s knowledge or consent, Vaughn made his wife the primary beneficiary of the customer’s brokerage account. Vaughn caused his firm’s books and records to be inaccurate. After opening her account, Vaughn recommended and sold the customer a fixed annuity contract for $10,000. The customer informed Vaughn that she wanted her neighbor to be named as the annuity’s beneficiary. Vaughn falsely recorded in the firm’s electronic system that his wife was the annuity’s primary and sole beneficiary.
FINRA found that the customer received a packet of documents concerning her annuity, from which she learned for the first time that Vaughn’s wife was named as the beneficiary of the annuity. The customer did not know Vaughn’s wife. At her request, the customer’s annuity contract was cancelled and the $10,000 was refunded to her.
FINRA also found that after the customer’s neighbor informed Vaughn of the customer’s death, he informed the neighbor that the customer contacted him to remove the neighbor as the beneficiary and instead named a hospice in her place. Vaughn never did. Approximately one month after the customer’s death, Vaughn opened a brokerage account in his wife’s name for the express purpose of receiving the assets from the customer’s account.
The firm did not find any documentation that the customer requested Vaughn’s wife be named as a beneficiary on either the account or annuity. The firm terminated Vaughn’s employment in connection with this matter. Vaughn and his wife executed a Mutual Release and Settlement Agreement with the firm, agreeing to transfer the assets held in the wife’s account back to the customer’s account or an account maintained in the name of the customer’s estate. Vaughn’s conduct resulted in the conversion of $22,417.58 in assets from the customer.
(FINRA Case #2011028581201)
According to FINRA's BrokerCheck, Christopher Shawn Vaughn was previously registered with the following firms:
SUNTRUST INVESTMENT SERVICES, INC. (CRD# 17499) - DELTONA, FL
08/2009 - 07/2011
WELLS FARGO ADVISORS, LLC (CRD# 19616) - THE VILLAGES, FL
01/2008 - 08/2009
A. G. EDWARDS & SONS, INC. (CRD# 4) - THE VILLAGES, FL
06/2007 - 01/2008
WACHOVIA SECURITIES, LLC (CRD# 19616) - LEESBURG, FL
04/2006 - 06/2007
This ends the summation for the information obtained on FINRA’s website.
If you or an elderly family member have experienced losses through your broker/financial advisor, call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer at Soreide Law Group for a free consultation on how to potentially recover your losses: 888-760-6552.
The following summation was obtained on FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary and Other FINRA Actions, October, 2013.”
Christopher Shawn Vaughn (CRD #4956822, Registered Representative, Leesburg, Florida)
was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Vaughn consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he engaged in a scheme to convert securities owned by an 82-year-old customer Vaughn befriended.
FINRA's findings stated that without the customer’s knowledge or consent, Vaughn made his wife the primary beneficiary of the customer’s brokerage account. Vaughn caused his firm’s books and records to be inaccurate. After opening her account, Vaughn recommended and sold the customer a fixed annuity contract for $10,000. The customer informed Vaughn that she wanted her neighbor to be named as the annuity’s beneficiary. Vaughn falsely recorded in the firm’s electronic system that his wife was the annuity’s primary and sole beneficiary.
FINRA found that the customer received a packet of documents concerning her annuity, from which she learned for the first time that Vaughn’s wife was named as the beneficiary of the annuity. The customer did not know Vaughn’s wife. At her request, the customer’s annuity contract was cancelled and the $10,000 was refunded to her.
FINRA also found that after the customer’s neighbor informed Vaughn of the customer’s death, he informed the neighbor that the customer contacted him to remove the neighbor as the beneficiary and instead named a hospice in her place. Vaughn never did. Approximately one month after the customer’s death, Vaughn opened a brokerage account in his wife’s name for the express purpose of receiving the assets from the customer’s account.
The firm did not find any documentation that the customer requested Vaughn’s wife be named as a beneficiary on either the account or annuity. The firm terminated Vaughn’s employment in connection with this matter. Vaughn and his wife executed a Mutual Release and Settlement Agreement with the firm, agreeing to transfer the assets held in the wife’s account back to the customer’s account or an account maintained in the name of the customer’s estate. Vaughn’s conduct resulted in the conversion of $22,417.58 in assets from the customer.
(FINRA Case #2011028581201)
According to FINRA's BrokerCheck, Christopher Shawn Vaughn was previously registered with the following firms:
SUNTRUST INVESTMENT SERVICES, INC. (CRD# 17499) - DELTONA, FL
08/2009 - 07/2011
WELLS FARGO ADVISORS, LLC (CRD# 19616) - THE VILLAGES, FL
01/2008 - 08/2009
A. G. EDWARDS & SONS, INC. (CRD# 4) - THE VILLAGES, FL
06/2007 - 01/2008
WACHOVIA SECURITIES, LLC (CRD# 19616) - LEESBURG, FL
04/2006 - 06/2007
This ends the summation for the information obtained on FINRA’s website.
If you or an elderly family member have experienced losses through your broker/financial advisor, call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer at Soreide Law Group for a free consultation on how to potentially recover your losses: 888-760-6552.
Steven Graham (CRD 1977736) denies the allegations in a pending customer claim filed on August 11, 2026. The disclosure names Western International Securities as the firm, and the claim involves corporate bonds. No arbitrator has ruled on it. His BrokerCheck report also lists a settled bond dispute and a federal court matter from earlier years.
A claim filed on September 11, 2024 names Thomas Hamlin (CRD 2208505) over a 10% Senior Unsecured Note in iCap Fund III. Every disclosure on his BrokerCheck report involves an iCap private placement and names Somerset Securities as the firm. Each one settled, and a settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
Peter Po's most recent settlement came on June 28, 2026, when a corporate bond claim settled for $40,000. Po (CRD 3106974) appears in several settled customer disputes over corporate and high-yield bonds. The disclosures name NI Advisors or California Securities as the firm, and each matter ended in a settlement, not a finding.
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