Heath Marell, Susan Marell and James Marell filed a claim in March 2016 against Mark Allan Plummer and Texas E & P Partners, Inc., alleging breach of contract, failure to supervise, negligence, intentional fraud and misrepresentation, among other claims. The claims related to Chestnut GEB Joint Ventures and Chestnut 2007 4×4 Joint Venture.
The Washington DC panel in Arbitration 16-00955 awarded the three customers a total of $299,770, plus pre- and post- judgement interest, relating to losses sustained in the failed oil and gas investments.
Texas E & P Partners was formerly known as Chestnut Exploration Partners, Inc. Plummer was the firm’s President and main shareholder. They operated in Richardson, TX.
Chestnut registered with the SEC in 1983 and engaged in the sale of interests in oil and gas joint ventures and limited partnerships managed by the firm’s affiliates.
Plummer was barred from the securities industry by a FINRA hearing panel in December 2015. That panel found that Plummer misused customer funds invested in an oil and gas venture by using those funds for purposes other than authorized by investors. The panel also found that during the course of the investigation Plummer fabricated a document that was produced to FINRA and then gave false and misleading testimony about that document in his on the record interview before FINRA.
Chestnut Exploration Partners, Inc., was expelled from FINRA in January 2017. A FINRA hearing panel found that the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer was aware of the altered document noted above but nevertheless produced the document to FINRA during its investigation. Also, the firm failed to properly supervise its employees in that the firm was involved in acting as a placement agent for the oil and gas ventures created by its affiliates and failed to address conflicts of interests in that operation.
Plummer became registered in 2003. He worked at Chestnut Exploration Partners, Inc., from 2003 until 2014. His BrokerCheck report indicates that two customer disputes were settled in 2010–11 for $430,000. In addition to the Marell arbitration above, he has two pending customer disputes regarding oil and gas ventures. The combined claimed damages in those matters are approximately $440,000.
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Nicholas J. Guiliano has over twenty years experience representing investors before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the New York Stock Exchange and before the National Association of Securities Dealers, Office of Dispute Resolution. Over the last twenty years, he has represented more than a thousand investors from all across the United States and from several foreign countries, in claims against stockbroker and broker-dealers for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning or excessive trading, the sale of unsuitable investments, the sale of defective investments, the sale of unregistered securities, and the failure to supervise. He is frequently quoted in the national media on securities and investment related issues, most recently on National Public Radio. He offers his services on purely a contingent fee basis, and is also a member of Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association.
