Legal Matters

The SEC has obtained a court order to stop Santa Fe, New Mexico financial advisor Martin Adrian Ruiz’s alleged ongoing offering fraud. According to the SEC complaint, Ruiz induced at least 56 investors to invest $10.6 million in an entity he owns, RAM Fund, LP (“RAM”), through false claims. Ruiz allegedly misappropriated approximately $9 million of the investment for his personal advancement. Ruiz is the president and sole owner of Carter Bain Wealth Management, LLC (“CBWM”), and he is a registered investment advisor in New Mexico and Texas. Ruiz is also the sole general partner of RAM, a limited partnership in Las Vegas, Nevada. RAM is not registered with the SEC. Ruiz, RAM, and CBWM are named as defendants in the SEC complaint filed on July 29, 2021. According to the SEC complaint, Ruiz utilized CBWM to target primarily elderly clients and convince them to invest in RAM. Ruiz allegedly raised at least $10.6 million for RAM from at least [...]

Dwight Dykstra (“Dykstra”), a Maitland, Florida stockbroker, has been suspended from acting as a broker for one year by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). Dykstra allegedly engaged in private security transactions and solicited promissory note investments amounting to $2 million without informing his member firm. Dykstra consented to the entry of findings without admitting or denying and was ordered to pay disgorgement of $67,000 in addition to civil and administrative penalties of $10,000. Dykstra was previously employed by Vision Brokerage Services, LLC (“Vision”) from 2013 to 2019. Before Vision, Dykstra was employed by FSC Securities Corporation (2004-2011), Walnut Street Securities, Inc (2002-2004), Pruco Securities Corporation (1982-2002), and The Prudential Insurance Company of America (1982-1993). According to FINRA, Dykstra participated in private securities transactions while registered through his firm by soliciting investment promissory notes issues by a limited liability company raising capital to develop a senior living real estate project. Dykstra supposedly contacted investors, provided marketing materials, and participated in [...]

Xiangyu “Sean” Zhang has been indefinitely barred from association with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) member in all capacities as of August 2019. Zhang was previously registered both as a broker and as an investment adviser. Zhang resigned from Merrill Lynch, Inc. in 2010 after facing allegations of unsuitable recommendations and placements of unauthorized limit orders. In December 2018, Zhang was discharged by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC after violating the company policy and submitting altered documents. Zhang also had four customer disputes filed against him, three of which settled for $479,749. Zhang was previously registered with Cetera Investment Services, LLC (2010-2017); LPL Financial, LLC (2017); and Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC (2017-2019). Wells Fargo and Merrill Lynch Terminations Zhang voluntarily resigned from Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. in April 2010 after allegations regarding unsuitable recommendation of IPO of a closed-end muni-bond fund and placement by RR of unauthorized limit orders with respect to the same investment. [...]

Michael Ecker, a stockbroker in Concorde Investment Services' Wellington, FL branch office, has been named in two customer disputes filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"), according to his updated his BrokerCheck report. The customers allege that Mr. Ecker overconcentrated a client’s portfolio in unsuitable illiquid Real Estate Investment Trusts ("REITs") and private placements. According to one claimant's allegations, Mr. Ecker had previously stated that the investments were meant to supplement diversified securities holdings of very wealthy individuals and should not be used as the foundation of a portfolio. The client sought $200,000 in damages, and it settled in November 2020 for $23,000. The claimant is a 75-year-old widow residing in Wellington, Florida. Several of the underlying private placements Ecker sold to the claimant were later alleged to be fraudulent themselves. The potential frauds were not disclosed to the claimants by Ecker or his employer broker-dealers. GPB Auto - alleged Ponzi scheme and subject of class action litigation, GPB [...]