Josh Nicholas Barred by FINRA

The Florida-based Soreide Law Group has obtained the following information on FINRA’s website in the March 2022 Disciplinary report on the following Florida broker:
JOSHUA DAVID NICHOLAS (Josh Nicholas CRD#: 6529944, Stuart, Florida), previously with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated of Stuart, Florida, from 02/03/2020 - 07/31/2020.
On January 24, 2022, an Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) was issued in which Josh Nicholas was barred from association with any FINRA member in all capacities.
Without admitting or denying FINRA’s findings, Josh Nicholas consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he allegedly converted customer funds.
FINRA’s findings stated that Nicholas allegedly engaged in futures contracts through his corporate entity, an outside business activity (OBA).
According to the FINRA report, Josh Nicholas’ futures trading for two of his clients, a married couple, allegedly resulted in losses of more than $1 million in the trading account with Nicholas and his entity. FINRA alleges that in an attempt to recoup some of their losses, Nicholas convinced the clients to invest $300,000 in a promissory note with his entity so that it could invest the funds in securities on their behalf.
FINRA alleges that Josh Nicholas transferred $280,000 from his entity’s bank account to his personal bank account and allegedly spent approximately $58,000 of these funds on personal expenses. FINRA’s findings also stated that Nicholas provided the clients with a fictitious brokerage statement containing misrepresentations.
According to FINRA, the clients repeatedly asked Nicholas to provide a copy of the entity’s account statement to show them whether and how the proceeds of the note had been invested. Josh Nicholas allegedly prepared and emailed a copy of a brokerage statement showing his entity had opened a brokerage account at a FINRA member firm, and that the account owned a number of securities to secure the note and had earned approximately $72,000 in dividend income that month. FINRA states that in fact, Josh Nicholas had allegedly fabricated the document. Neither Nicholas’ entity nor Nicholas had an account at the firm, and neither his entity nor he owned any assets at the firm.
FINRA’s findings also included that Nicholas failed to provide prior written notice to his member firm that he was engaged in an OBA involving the entity, and he did not receive approval from the firm to do so. FINRA alleges that Nicholas falsely attested in a firm annual compliance certification that he did not engage in any OBAs.
(FINRA Case #2020067572701)
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, available to the public on FINRA’s website, Josh Nicholas, was registered in the securities industry less than one year and he has 5 Disclosures on his FINRA CRD report.  There are 3 "Regulatory" reports, 1 "Employment Separation after Allegations," and 1 "Customer Dispute." Two of the Regulatory reports involve JDN Capital, LLC.
If you’ve experienced losses due to the actions or recommendations of the former broker with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated of Stuart, Florida, Josh Nicholas, contact the Florida-based Soreide Law Group, and speak to an experienced securities lawyer regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration at:  888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group works on a contingency fee and represents our clients nationwide before FINRA.