Stuart Dickinson, a former WFG Investments broker, was banned from the securities industry by FINRA after recommending that his clients invest in a Ponzi scheme. The regulatory body also ordered Dickinson to pay $924,000 in restitution to seven customers, according to a default decision notice FINRA released.

The notice states that Dickinson failed to conduct reasonable due diligence on ATM Financial Services (ATMF) and “missed key red flags that signaled fraud,” causing his investors to lose $1.02 million. In 2007, Dickinson sold over $1 million in limited partnership interests in ATM Alliance (ATMA). Through ATMA, he contracted with ATMF to manage and service ATMs at several locations.

In 2008, Stuart Dickinson discovered ATMF did not use ATMA funds to purchase ATM machines, but in fact, used the funds to pay fictitious returns to earlier investors, according to FINRA. Dickinson should have recognized there was something amiss when he was shown partly handwritten ATM retail space lease agreements and incomplete and inconsistent performance history of the ATMs, FINRA said.

Mr. Dickinson was terminated by WFG in 2013 and is not currently associated with any other FINRA-regulated firm. He had been with WFG since 2005, according to his BrokerCheck profile.

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