Gerald Roger Dewes of East Amherst New York a stockbroker formerly registered with Cadaret Grant Co. Inc. is the subject of a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim where the customer sought $1,710,000.00 in damages founded on allegations that a fiduciary duty that was owed to the customer had been breached and that the stockbroker was negligently supervised by Cadaret Grant resulting in the customer’s losses. FINRA Arbitration No. 20-01290 (May 5, 2020).
According to the claim, the customer invested in over-the-counter equities and private placements. Investment recommendations in this respect allegedly failed to be suitable for the customer and resulted in losses. The claim also alleges that a contract between the customer and the securities broker dealer had been breached and that the customer had been defrauded.
Dewes has been identified in four additional customer initiated investment related disputes regarding accusations of his improper conduct during the time that he was employed by John Hancock Financial Services, Signator Investors Inc. and Sunbridge Management Inc. FINRA Public Disclosure confirms that Dewes has been referenced in a customer initiated investment related complaint in which the customer requested $654,652.00 in damages based upon allegations that the Signator investors customer had been steered by Dewes towards investing in bad direct investments which consisted of pre-IPO shares.
Another customer initiated investment related arbitration claim involving Dewes’s conduct was settled for $25,500.00 in damages supported by accusations that the stockbroker’s trading was not suitable as it failed to be consistent with the customer’s objectives for investing when Dewes was registered with John Hancock Financial Services. The claim alleges that Dewes’s sales practices had not been supervised by the securities broker dealer and that a fiduciary duty owed to the customer had been breached.
Dewes is also the subject of a customer initiated investment related written complaint on November 8, 2019 where the customer sought unspecified compensatory damages founded on allegations that the customer invested $50,000.00 through Dewes after being promised ten percent annual returns by the stockbroker. On March 16, 2020, another customer filed an investment related complaint concerning Dewes’s conduct in which the customer requested more than $5,000.00 in damages based upon accusations that the customer had been sold unsuitable real estate security products by Dewes during the time that Dewes was registered with Cadaret Grant. The complaint alleges that Dewes caused the customer to pay high interest charges relating to a real estate investment trust purchase.
Dewes has been barred from associating with any FINRA member in any capacity supported by findings that he failed to cooperate with FINRA’s investigators who were assessing whether Dewes sold away and engaged in unapproved outside business activities. Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent No. 2019064639701 (Mar. 30, 2020). According to the AWC, Dewes was instructed to provide recorded testimony for FINRA personnel. Dewes’s legal counsel notified FINRA that Dewes would not be cooperating. Dewes violated FINRA Rules 2010 and 8210 in this respect.
