Thomas Eugene Hendricks (CRD #2622427, Registered Representative, Salem, Ohio) was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying thefindings, Hendricks consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he borrowed $3,000 from a customer/personal friend to be repaid by a certain date, but failed to […]

  Thomas Brown Hammond (CRD #2389080, Registered Representative, Fair Oaks, California) was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity.  Hammond consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he solicited both his brokerage firm customers and customers of his consulting business to invest funds in a fictitious private […]

Brent Robert Bishop (CRD #2348912, Registered Principal, Tulsa, Oklahoma) has been barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity and ordered to pay restitution in the total amount of $58,000, plus interest, to customers. These sanctions were based on FINRA's findings that Bishop misappropriated funds from his member firm’s customers by intentionally converting $40,000 […]

Daniel Edward Becerril II (CRD #4489715, Registered Representative, Huntington Beach, California) has been barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity and this sanction was based on FINRA's findings that Becerril made willful misrepresentations and omissions to his customer by telling her that he would invest an $11,500 inheritance in a mutual fund, when […]

The municipal bond market is nowhere near as bad as it was few years ago. That doesn't mean the muni market is free of risks and challenges for financial advisers building bond portfolios for clients writes Jeff Benjamin in a May, 2012, article from InvestmentNews.com. George Friedlander, managing director and chief municipal strategist with Citi Investment […]

Many of our clients ask about FINRA's BrokerCheck.  Located on FINRA's website, finra.org, BrokerCheck is defined by FINRA as "a free tool to help investors research the professional backgrounds of current and former FINRA-registered brokerage firms and brokers, as well as investment adviser firms and representatives. It should be the first resource investors turn to […]

Soreide Law Group, PLLC, is currently investigating claims against Douglas A. Leone of Newport Coast Securities, Irvine, California.  Leone was previously, according to FINRA's Brokercheck,  located in New York. Currently, according to FINRA's Brokercheck, Leone has 3 pending customer disputes against him and has other cases that have been settled in arbitration.  The alleged charges against him that were settled […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, recently awarded the following settlements in arbitrations:     Robinson v. Schmerman, FINRA ID # 12-00389 (Phoenix, AZ, 4/18/2012) - A sole Arbitrator, in a bifurcated Rule 12801 default proceeding, holds a broker who allegedly failed to follow instructions liable to a customer for $538,400, including $100,000 in punitive damages. […]

Soreide Law Group, PLLC, has been conducting investigations into several REITs.  Cornerstone Core Properties REIT was at one time valued around $8.00 per share.  If you were an investor at that price, you have now seen that value tumble to its current approximate value of $2.25.  This non-traded Real Estate Investment Trust has suffered a […]