South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
Unsuitable Oil and Gas Limited Partnership FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.
December, 2011:
Thomas Heflin Redmond Jr. (CRD #4116004, Reg. Representative, Carmel, Indiana) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, Redmond consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he made unsuitable investment recommendations to a customer. The findings stated that Redmond recommended that she invest 47.5 percent of her available funds in highrisk investments, including $100,000 in an oil and gas offering by an entity; the SEC later charged the entity, its affiliates and control persons with operating a $485 million offering fraud scheme. The findings also stated that Redmond knew the customer was an elderly widow with minimal investment experience, and was looking to preserve her assets and invest conservatively, so his recommendation was unsuitable. The findings also included that Redmond failed to follow the customer’s instructions in connection with the purchase of a variable annuity by failing to elect the minimum income benefit rider on the variable annuity. FINRA found that Redmond forged customers’ signatures on subscription agreements to purchase interests in an entity’s offering. Redmond signed the customers’ names without their express authorization or consent. FINRA also found that Redmond made misrepresentations to a customer while soliciting him to invest in an entity’s offering; Redmond falsely claimed that he had personally invested a third of his assets in the offering when he had not invested in the offering. (FINRA Case #2009020417501).