Jack Howard Owens Jr. of Lady Lakes Florida a stockbroker formerly registered with Gradient Securities LLC is the subject of a customer initiated investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim which was resolved for $17,500.00 in damages supported by accusations that there was a breach of fiduciary duty by the stockbroker and that the customer’s annuity transactions were not supervised by Gradient Securities. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitration No. 20-01883 (Oct. 29, 2020).
Owens has been referenced in eight more customer initiated investment related disputes concerning allegations of his misconduct while employed by securities broker dealers including Legacy Financial Services and Gradient Securities. FINRA Public Disclosure confirms that a customer filed an investment related complaint concerning Owens’s activities where the customer requested compensatory damages founded on accusations of an unsuitable investment transaction being effected by Owens at Gradient Securities causing the customer to experience losses.
Another customer initiated investment related complaint regarding Owens’s conduct was settled for $180,000.00 in damages based upon allegations of the misrepresentation of information concerning the transfer of an old annuity into a new one through Owens at Gradient Securities. On June 16, 2016, a customer filed an investment related complaint involving Owens’s conduct in which they sought more than $5,000.00 in damages supported by accusations that it was unsuitable for them to be placed into an annuity by the stockbroker.
Owens is also referenced in a customer initiated investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim which was resolved for $65,000.00 on August 8, 2019 founded on allegations that the customer had been unreasonably exposed to losses and penalties as a result of Owens liquidating their account between December of 2017 and December of 2018. FINRA Arbitration No. 18-01227.
On April 19, 2018, a customer filed an investment related complaint concerning Owens’s conduct where they requested at least $5,000.00 in compensatory damages based upon accusations of inaccurate information being provided to them concerning the annuity that they held between March of 2017 and April of 2018. The stockbroker is additionally the subject of a customer initiated investment related written complaint on February 8, 2019 in which the customer sought compensatory damages supported by allegations of the stockbroker misrepresenting information relating to their variable annuity purchase.
Owens has also been sanctioned three times by a Florida securities regulator. In one of those instances, he was ordered by Florida Office of Financial Regulation to pay a $10,000.00 fine and to cease and desist violating Florida securities laws founded on accusations of him using misleading, unwarranted and exaggerated advertising materials. The regulator indicates that the stockbroker’s advertising materials were not authorized by Legacy Financial Services or the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD).
Owens was registered with Gradient Securities between December 10, 2009 and June 1, 2018.
