Aaron Robert Parthemer was barred from the securities industry by FINRA in 2015. The bar resulted from Parthemer’s unapproved outside business activities, inappropriate and unapproved loans to customers and unapproved private securities transactions.
Parthemer worked in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, at Morgan Stanley from June 2009 to October 2011. He then worked at Wells Fargo, also in Ft. Lauderdale, from October 2011 until May 2015 when he was barred from the industry.
Parthemer ’s BrokerCheck report reveals that since he was barred from the industry, there have been two arbitration awards and one customer settlement lodged against him, totaling approximately $2 million.
Additionally, there are four pending FINRA arbitrations regarding Parthemer. Three were filed in 2016, one in April of this year. The combined claimed damages for three of the cases are $9.6 million; the BrokerCheck disclosure for one of the cases does not list a damage amount.
Parthemer is not named in any of the arbitrations as a party; only his former employers Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo are named as respondents (which is not uncommon).
According to media reports, Parthemer had several NFL and NBA clients whom he solicited to invest in a Miami nightclub he owned. The two arbitration awards that were issued indicate that the claims were related to investments in Global Village Concerns, Inc. and, in one claim, a “nightclub.”
Two of the pending claims make general references to unauthorized outside investment opportunities. One of theses cases was filed by former NFL player Asante Samuels and Mega Millions lottery winner James Groves and alleges $7.8 million in damages. The third claim makes a specific reference to Global Village Concerns, Inc.
The last, and most recent claim, was filed by an NFL player, Arizona Cardinal’s safety Antione Bethea. His claim alleges that unsuitable investments were made in his account, going back to 2009, and seeks over $1.6 million in damages.
It would seem like Parthemer was a pretty good salesman and was able to entice these athletes and others to invest their money away from the brokerage firms which held their accounts.
A broker asking a client to write out a check to another entity for an investment, when the client already has a brokerage account serviced by the broker, can often be a “red flag” that something is amiss. The FINRA disclosure on Parthemer’s BrokerCheck report indicates Parthemer had clients invest $3.08 million in an unapproved private securities transaction; that was apparently Global Village Concerns, Inc.
It would appear, with four arbitration filings since June of 2016, some of Parthemer’s clients are “waking up.”
As noted above, all of the arbitrations filed to date have been against Parthemer’s former brokerage firms. That is the way it should be. Those firms are responsible for supervising their brokers. There are numerous steps that firms can take to supervise the outside business activities and private securities transactions brokers will make; the two arbitration panels awarded the claimants approximately $814,000; obviously, they found the supervisory efforts of the former employer (Morgan Stanley in both cases) lacking.
Our practice is limited to the representation of investors. We accept representation on a contingent fee basis, meaning there is no cost to you unless we make a recovery for you. There is never any charge for a consultation or an evaluation of your claim. For more information, contact us at (877) SEC-ATTY.
For more information concerning common claims against stockbrokers and investment professionals, please visit us at securitiesarbitrations.com
