John Anthony Orlando of Fort Lauderdale Florida a stockbroker formerly employed by WestPark Capital is referenced in a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim in which the customer sought $338,500.00 in damages supported by allegations that between August of 2016 and March of 2017, the customer had been sold securities in a bad private placement offering which caused the customer to experience losses. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitration No. 20-02201 (July 28, 2020). According to the claim, the stockbroker was negligent and had breached a fiduciary duty to the customer in regard to a Horizon Fund investment which the customer invested in for purposes of obtaining pre-initial public offering shares of Palantir and Uber.
FINRA Public Disclosure confirms that Orlando has been identified in four additional customer initiated investment related disputes containing accusations of his misconduct while he was employed by Sterne Agee Financial Services, Newport Coast Securities and WestPark Capital. On March 28, 2017, a customer filed an investment related complaint in regard to Orlando’s conduct where the customer requested more than $5,000.00 in damages based upon allegations of Orlando using unreasonable sales tactics to get the WestPark customer to purchase an inappropriate equity position for the customer’s account.
Orlando is also the subject of a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim in which the customer was awarded $85,001.00 in damages founded upon accusations that the Sterne Agee Financial Services customer’s account had been inappropriately concentrated in an energy company and that Orlando made investment recommendations which failed to be suitable for the customer. FINRA Arbitration No. 17-01615 (Apr. 26, 2018).
On March 19, 2020, another customer filed an investment related arbitration claim involving Orlando’s conduct where the customer sought $30,400.00 in damages supported by allegations of bad advice by Orlando as it pertained to the stock trades executed in the customer’s account at SA Stone Wealth Management. According to the claim, the customer’s account was excessively concentrated in an equity. FINRA Arbitration No. 20-00924 (Mar. 19, 2020).
Orlando is referenced in another customer initiated investment related arbitration claim in which the customer requested $1,000,000.00 in damages based upon accusations of excessive trading and churning of the customer’s investment account which led the WestPark and Newport customer to experience unwarranted losses on private placements and stocks. FINRA Arbitration No. 20-01721 (June 8, 2020). The claim alleges that margin was used to effect transactions that were not appropriate for the customer.
Orlando’s employment with WestPark Capital has been terminated as of September 24, 2019. Since November 5, 2019, he has been registered with SW Financial. Orlando has been associated with four securities broker dealers who have been expelled by regulators for violation of federal securities laws or are otherwise defunct.
