WESTPARK CAPITAL & DAVID B LEVINSON Lawsuit

Soreide Law Group has filed a FINRA arbitration on behalf of our client (Claimant) against:

WESTPARK CAPITAL, INC., and their former registered representative, DAVID BERNARD LEVINSON (DAVID B LEVINSON) (Respondents).

The Claimant is retired and living in Los Angeles, California. On or about November of 2019, as the Claimant was nearing retirement, he liquidated a piece of real estate and wanted to do a 1031 tax deferred exchange. The lawsuit alleges that WESTPARK CAPITAL broker, DAVID B LEVINSON, held himself out as knowledgeable in that area and sold the Claimant three Delaware statutory trusts, a $210,000 apartment building in Alabama, a $102,000 office building in Chicago and a $250,000 commercial building in Wisconsin. A Delaware Statutory Trust can purchase fractional ownership in properties that are 1031 qualified without having to own the whole property. In addition to the 1031 exchanges, and allegedly without request by the Claimant, DAVID B LEVINSON convinced the Claimant to invest an additional $425,000 into the MacKenzie Realty Capital Fund, which according to the lawsuit DAVID B LEVINSON claimed would generate a safe 8% annual dividend. 

The lawsuit states that after the investment in 2019 into the non-tax deferred MacKenzie Realty Capital Fund, the Fund almost immediately stopped paying dividends, then resumed at a fraction of the dividend rate, only to stop distributions completely in 2025. To date the Fund has lost over 95% of its value.  The lawsuit alleges that the Claimant was unaware that the MacKenzie Realty Capital Fund had a high debt to equity ratio of over 100%, with no to low liquidity, went public in 2024 to avoid shareholder disbursement and had to go through a 10 for 1 reverse split in 2025 just to stay listed. The lawsuit states that this small cap overleveraged REIT was unsuitable for the Claimant and his retirement goals.

According to the lawsuit, the Claimant was looking for a low risk, tax-advantaged investment strategy to generate income to sustain him through retirement. Allegedly by following the advice of WESTPARK CAPITAL and broker, DAVID B LEVINSON, the Claimant lost a significant part of his ability to support himself in retirement due to the loss of the principal and income from the investments sold to him by Respondents. In addition to the loss, he had to pay the taxes on the $425,000 invested instead of deferring them to other qualified investments.

The lawsuit is alleging negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligent supervision and WESTPARK CAPITAL and their former broker, DAVID B LEVINSON’s actions have caused damage to the Claimant of $400,000.00.  It is anticipated the Respondents will deny all allegations.

According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, available to the public on FINRA’s website, DAVID B LEVINSON has been in the securities industry for45 years and has been listed with 15 firms.  He was listed as a broker with WESTPARK CAPITAL of Newport Beach, California from 07/14/2016 - 04/28/2020.  He is currently listed as a broker with AMERICAN TRUST INVESTMENT SERVICES, INC. of Lisle, Illinois since 4/24/2020.

To discuss this article or any other securities issues, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer at no cost at:  888-760-6552.

Soreide Law Group represents our clients nationwide before FINRA on a contingency fee basis.