commissions

Preferred Apartment Communities Inc.’s Nontraded Preferred Shares May Carry Risks for Investors

July 18, 2016 | Malecki Law Team

According to a recent InvestmentNews article, Preferred Apartment Communities Inc. began selling an investment known as a Nontraded Preferred Share after 2011. The article detailed that the investment is redeemable back to Preferred Apartment Communities Inc. after five years, and if the investor needs to redeem it before five years, they must pay a redemption fee that decreases over time. If the investor seeks to redeem during the first year, the redemption fee is 13%, according to the article.

Nontraded REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) have long been an area of concern for securities regulators like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) because they are generally illiquid investments that pay high upfront commissions to the brokers who sell them.

Nontraded REITs pose suitability concerns for investors. Brokers who recommend them must make sure the investors are not over-concentrated in the investment, and that they have disclosed all of the risks associated with them, including the investment’s illiquid nature and the high fees earned, leading to questions of whether the investment is in the best interest of the investor.

BROKER REPORT: Financial Advisor Brandon Gioffre Barred from Conducting Securities Business

June 29, 2016 | Malecki Law Team

The securities fraud attorneys at Malecki Law are interested in hearing from investors who have complaints against stockbroker Brandon Gioffre. Mr. Gioffre was employed and registered from July 2014 to August 2015 with Constellation Wealth Advisors LLC, a New York broker-dealer, according to his publicly available BrokerCheck, as maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). According to BrokerCheck records, Mr. Gioffre voluntarily resigned from Constellation amid allegations that he was involved in “soliciting a private placement” to three individuals.

Per his BrokerCheck report, prior to his employment and subsequent resignation from Constellation, Mr. Gioffre was employed by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney from June 2009 to June 2014 and was discharged from this firm amid allegations of “fee reversals in [his] personal Morgan Stanley account, continuing to maintain a pre-existing outside investment that never received written approval from the firm, and fund transfers between [his] personal Morgan Stanley account and the accounts of family members.”

Subsequent to his resignation, Mr. Gioffre was barred from association with any FINRA member broker-dealer on June 22, 2016 by FINRA, after submitting a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent No. 2015046448701 (AWC). According to the AWC, Mr. Gioffre violated FINRA Rule 3040 by recommending to several people an investment in a private placement that was not offered through his firm. The AWC further stated that Mr. Gioffre “created the false impression that [the firm] sanctioned the private placement” by using the firm’s offices for meetings and his business email account to communicate with the investors.

BROKER REPORT: Former Legend Securities Financial Advisor Walter Marino

May 26, 2016 | Malecki Law Team

The securities fraud attorneys at Malecki Law are interested in hearing from investors who have complaints against stockbroker Walter Marino. Mr. Marino is currently employed and registered with Lincoln Investment, a broker-dealer, working out of the Dix Hills, New York office, according to his publicly available BrokerCheck, as maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Per his BrokerCheck report, Mr. Marino was previously employed by Legend Securities from 2002 to August 2015, when he was discharged after the “Firm discovered what [Mr. Marino] represented as a non-replacement [variable annuity] sale was in fact a replacement.” Prior to his employment and subsequent termination from Legend Securities, Mr. Marino left Brill Securities in 2001 by “voluntary resignation” amid allegations of unauthorized trading activity and disregarding a customer’s investments, according to BrokerCheck.

Currently, according to BrokerCheck records, it appears Mr. Marino is a registered broker in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and South Carolina.

BROKER REPORT: Over Ten Customer Complaints Against Michael Fasciglione

August 20, 2015 | Malecki Law Team

The securities fraud attorneys at Malecki Law are interested in hearing from investors who have complaints against stockbroker Michael Fasciglione. Mr. Fasciglione is believed to be registered with National Securities Corporation, based out of Mineola, NY. He has also recently been registered with Oppenheimer & Co. and First Montauk Securities, according to industry records.

According to BrokerCheck, as maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), Mr. Fasciglione has been the subject of more than 10 customer complaints. Stretching back as far as 1995, Mr. Fasciglione has been accused of recommending unsuitable investments to customers, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, excessive trading, fraud, unauthorized trading, taking excessive risk, misrepresentations, allowing a customer’s account to exceed comfortable margin balances, and charging excessive commissions, per FINRA records.

Of these customer disputes, FINRA records indicate that some customers received back tens of thousands of dollars in connection with their complaints. One customer reportedly received back $300,000 in connection with an unauthorized trading complaint, while another reportedly received $120,000 in a suitability claim.