Matthew Aaron Bell, of San Antonio, Texas, a stockbroker formerly registered with WFG Investments, Inc., has been named in a customer initiated investment related written complaint, which settled on February 10, 2017, for $43,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Bell made unsuitable investment recommendations to the customer regarding over-the-counter equity products.
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Public Disclosure reveals that Bell has been named in forty-six additional customer initiated investment related disputes containing allegations of his misconduct while employed with WFG Investments, Inc., Financial Services LLC, Fidelity Brokerage Services, Alamo Asset Advisors, Securities America, Inc., Kercheville & Company, Prudential Securities Incorporated, and Raymond James & Associates, Inc.
That may be a non-product related, non-Ponzi Scheme, record of arbitrations and complaints by any stockbroker currently registered..
Specifically, on May 17, 2004, a customer initiated investment related written complaint involving Bell’s conduct was settled for $5,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Bell failed to apprise the customer of breakpoint discounts pertaining to the customer’s class A mutual fund share purchases, causing the customer to be overcharged.
On October 19, 2010, a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim regarding Bell’s activities was resolved for $17,500.00 in damages based upon allegations against Bell including: violation of Texas Business and Commerce Code; violation of Texas Securities Act; unsuitability; unauthorized trading; breach of fiduciary duty; negligence; misrepresentation; and breach of contract.
Further, from November 27, 2012, to January 4, 2013, three customer initiated investment related complaints involving Bell’s conduct were settled for a total of $31,367.00 in damages based upon allegations that Bell made misrepresentations to customers regarding corporate debt investments.
Additionally, thirty-four customer initiated investment related disputes regarding Bell’s activities were filed from December 16, 2013, to January 3, 2017, based upon allegations that Bell, inter alia: made unsuitable investment recommendations and effected unsuitable transactions in customer accounts; breached his fiduciary and contractual duties; made investment based misrepresentations; negligently managed the customers’ investment portfolios; defrauded the customers; and committed violations of federal and state securities laws as well as FINRA rules pertaining to customers’ investments in penny stocks, bonds, exchange traded funds, real estate investment trusts, and alternative products. Customers additionally claimed that Bell’s employing brokerage firms failed to supervise his activities concerning customers’ investment accounts.
Moreover, Bell was charged by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a Complaint alleging that Bell engaged in manipulative tactics to inflate a medical education entity’s stock at customers’ expenses. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Discala et al., No. 14-CV-4346 (E.D.N.Y. July 17, 2014). The Complaint alleged that Bell effected customers’ purchases of shares in the medical education entity via a pump and dump scheme, which resulted in customers sustaining substantial losses after the stock’s share price fell from seven dollars to under ten cents per share.
Bell allegedly raked in more than $500,000.00 in connection with the pump and dump scheme. The SEC additionally alleged that Bell engaged in a market manipulation strategy involving another entity, wherein the SEC took action to halt Bell’s trading in order to prevent him from defrauding additional investors. The Complaint alleged that Bell’s conduct was violative of Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Sections 9 and 10(b), SEC Rule 10b-5, as well as Securities Act of 1933 Sections 17(a), 5(a), and 5(c).
Guiliano Law Group
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