Legal Matters

Shane Wilhelm, a stockbroker with Fortune Financial Services, Inc. of Moneta, Virginia, has been accused by three separate clients of misrepresenting the assets in their accounts as being “significantly greater” than what was actually in the accounts, according to his FINRA BrokerCheck Report. The Customer Complaints Against Shane Wilhelm According to the customer allegations, Shane Wilhelm inflated the actual value of his clients’ account holdings. Three separate customers have filed essentially the same allegations against Mr. Wilhelm within the past four years. One of the complaints does not specify the customer’s damages but the other two complaints against Shane Wilhelm claim over $420,000 in damages. The customer complaints involve investments including variable annuities, listed equities (common and preferred stock) and a mutual fund. Stockbrokers, Like Shane Wilhelm, Must Not Mislead Their Customers Brokerage firms and stockbrokers, like Shane Wilhelm, must comply with federal securities laws and industry rules and regulations, including FINRA’s rules. FINRA Rule 2020, prohibits FINRA members from [...]

John Dennis Lowry, the owner of Spartan Capital Securities, LLC of New York, New York, has been named as a party in a pending FINRA Disciplinary Proceeding, according to his FINRA BrokerCheck Report. Mr. Lowry’s report also reveals eleven prior customer complaints against Mr. Lowry and his firm. FINRA Disciplinary Proceeding Against John Dennis Lowry On October 19, 2021, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) filed a disciplinary complaint which named John Dennis Lowry and Spartan Capital Securities, LLC as two of the respondents. According to the FINRA allegations, Spartan violated multiple FINRA rules in failing to disclose, or timely disclose, hundreds of reportable events involving its representatives, including customer complaints, customer arbitration claims, bankruptcies, and unsatisfied liens and judgments. The complaint notes that Lowry became Spartan’s CEO in 2015 and, through a holding company, is the sole owner of the company. FINRA found that Spartan failed to timely file 115 out of 152 required amendments to its regulatory forms, [...]

Michael Castillero has been named by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a stock fraud civil action alleging that Castillero and his partners offered pre-Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares they did not own, pocketed undisclosed fees, and commingled investor funds, resulting in Ponzi scheme-like payments. According to the allegations, Castillero and his partners facilitated the scheme via an unregistered broker-dealer with a vast network of sales agents, raising at least $410 million from more than 2,200 investors from November 2017 through February 2022 FINRA Previously Barred Michael Castillero In 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") barred Michael Castillero from acting as a broker or working for any registered brokerage firm because he failed to appear for testimony related to a FINRA investigation alleging that he was participating in unauthorized trading, false statements, and settling customer complaints under the table and out of the firm's knowledge. The SEC Pending Civil Suit According to the SEC action, Michael Castillero was [...]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") has suspended First Allied Securities broker Brian Donnelly for four months beginning June 22, 2022, following an investigation into multiple customer complaints. FINRA found that Donnelly recommended unsuitable investments to customers and violated FINRA's rules by participating in a private securities action without knowledge of First Allied Securities, also known as "selling away" from his firm. FINRA's Findings Against Brian Donnelly According to FINRA, Brian Donnelly introduced a client to the President of a company who was seeking investments in limited partnership units. Donnelly's client invested $250,000 into the business and Donnelly acted as an ongoing intermediary between the customer and the business but never notified First Allied. Additionally, FINRA states that Donnelly's client liquidated several securities that he held at First Allied to make this large investment. Donnelly communicated with this client from a personal email and his personal phone number without forwarding any of the correspondence or business dealings to the firm [...]