Dean Mustaphalli, a former broker at Sterne Agee Financial Services Inc., is looking at a potential expulsion. According to FINRA, Mustaphalli ran a $6 million hedge fund, Mustaphalli Capital Partners, that he failed to disclose. FINRA charged Mustaphalli for creating the fund and receiving commissions without notifying the broker-dealer. He sought cash for the fund from more than 25 investors for more than half of 2011. Between April and August of 2011, Mustaphalli received about $41,800 in management fees.

The fund’s value has allegedly dropped by about 90% since then. To date, FINRA is unsure if any of Mustaphalli’s clients were customers of Sterne Agee, but a lawyer filing two arbitration claims against Mustaphalli claims that one of his clients was in fact a customer of Sterne Agee. FINRA states that Mustaphalli was not providing account statements for the hedge fund as requested.

Under FINRA’s rules, brokers are allowed to operate hedge funds as long as they are fully disclosed, approved by the FINRA member firm, and supervised by the firm. Mustaphalli managed the fund through Mustaphalli Advisory Group, and although he did disclose the existence of the RIA to Sterne Agee, he did not disclose that he was managing the hedge fund through the firm. He received performance fees, and his RIA received management fees through the hedge fund.

According to another attorney representing investors in the Mustaphalli hedge fund, Mustaphalli continued to seek clients for the fund through the investment adviser even after Sterne Agee fired him. Previously, Mustaphalli had been in the industry for fourteen years before being fired in 2011.

If you or someone you know has lost money as a result of an investment, please contact Richard Frankowski at 888-741-7503 to discuss your potential legal remedies.