Dennis Mehringer Jr. Allegedly Recommends Unsuitable And Excessive Short-Term Mutual Fund Switches

The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker Dennis Mehringer Jr. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Dennis Mehringer Jr. has been the subject of multiple customer disputes.

Dennis Albert Mehringer Jr. was a California based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for thirty-five years. During his career, he was registered with twelve different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.

His Registrations

• Nel Equity Services (1981-1984)


• PML Securities Company (1984-1987)


• Guardian Investor Services Corporation (1987-1989)


• U.S. Securities Clearing Corp. (1991-1992)


• New England Securities (1992-1994)


• United Pacific Securities (1994)


• The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States (1990-1996)


• Equico Securities (1990-1996)


• Walnut Street Securities (1995-2001)


• FSC Securities Corporation (2001-2004)


• First Allied Securities (2004-2009)


• Western International Securities (2009-2018)

The Allegations

• In October 2008, a customer alleged that Dennis Mehringer Jr. gave them unsuitable advice regarding loans made from a 'Defined Benefit Plan' and the purchase of a real estate property. This case went to arbitration where the customer was awarded $75,000 in damages.


• In August 2012, a customer alleged that Dennis Mehringer Jr. failed to properly diversify their account. This case was settled for $81,296 in damages.


• In May 2014, a customer alleged that Dennis Mehringer Jr. charged them excessive and improper commissions. The customer also alleged that Mehringer executed unauthorized trades. The alleged transgressions taking place between 2010 and 2013. This case was settled for $290,000 in damages.


• In July 2015, a customer alleged that Dennis Mehringer Jr. failed to follow instructions. This case was settled for $47,000 in damages.


• Dennis Mehringer Jr. was officially sanctioned by FINRA in December 2016. The findings in this matter state that he allegedly made unsuitable recommendations that a customer take part in unsuitable and excessively expensive short-term trading and intra-day switching of mutual fund Class A shares. Mehringer allegedly received approximately $170,000 in commissions from these transactions. This case is currently being appealed.


• In March 2017, a customer alleged that Dennis Mehringer Jr. made unsuitable investment recommendations. This case was settled for $45,000 in damages.


• In May 2017, a customer stated that they were unhappy with the performance of a fixed income investment recommended by Dennis Mehringer Jr. This case was settled for $62,000 in damages.


• In November 2018, a customer alleged that Dennis Mehringer Jr. recommended unsuitable investments and breached his fiduciary duty. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $1,761,558 in damages.


• In May 2019, a customer alleged that Dennis Mehringer Jr. recommended unsuitable securities, made material misrepresentations, engaged in fraud, executed unauthorized trades, and breached his fiduciary duty. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $433,079 in damages.


• After allegedly failing to comply with a FINRA investigation into his alleged unsuitable trading and other forms of misconduct, Dennis Mehringer Jr. was barred by FINRA from acting as a securities broker in any fashion.

What Does This Mean?

The FINRA sanction against Dennis Mehringer Jr. states that he executed a highly unsuitable short trading strategy involving mutual fund Class A positions. Mutual fund Class A shares are designed to be held onto for at least a year in order to mature. Without this maturity, investors are unable to see any returns on this particular investment. Despite this, Dennis Mehringer Jr. allegedly recommended that this customer purchase and then sell these securities before their maturity date. Out of a total of 84 mutual fund positions, only seventeen were held longer than six months. Not only does this type of trading prevent investors from seeing desired returns, it also causes investors to incur highly unnecessary sales charges that cause principal investments to deteriorate. Most of these charges go right to the broker as their commission for brokering the trade. This proves to be the main motivation behind recommending such a trading strategy.

Oakes & Fosher Can Help

Many investors are unaware of the legal recourse available to them after losing money due to securities broker fraud and/or negligence. The truth is that investors who have lost money in this fashion may actually be entitled to damages.

Oakes & Fosher dedicates its entire legal practice to helping investors across the nation. If you, or someone you know, have lost money investing with Dennis Mehringer Jr., please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation.