The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is currently investigating the alleged misconduct of securities broker Donald Joseph Fowler. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Donald Fowler had been the subject of multiple customer disputes over the course of his career. He is no longer working as a securities broker in any fashion.
Donald Fowler was a New York-based securities broker who had worked in the securities industry for thirteen years. During his career, he had been registered with three different securities firms.
His Registrations
- American Capital Partners (2005-2007)
- J.D. Nicholas & Associates (2007-2014)
- Worden Capital Management (2014-2019)
The Allegations
- In June 2016, a customer alleged that Donald Fowler had excessively traded in their account, and had additionally made certain unauthorized trades. This case was settled for $400,000 in damages.
- In October 2019, a customer alleged that Fowler had breached his fiduciary duty, and had acted negligently in managing their account. This case was settled for $120,000 in damages.
- In August 2021, a customer alleged that Fowler had breached his fiduciary duty, excessively traded in their account, and had acted negligently in managing their account. This case is currently pending, and the customer is seeking $1,277,631 in damages.
- In August of 2021, Fowler was officially sanctioned by FINRA following allegations that he had churned and excessively traded four different customer accounts. The findings stated that Fowler’s trading of the four accounts resulted in high turnover rates and cost-to-equity ratios. As a result of these findings, Fowler was barred from acting as a securities broker in all capacities indefinitely.
Churning
Most securities brokers are compensated for their services by charging their customers a percentage of their principal investment whenever executing transactions on their behalf. This method of compensation has created a fraudulent trading practice known as churning where securities brokers trade an investor’s account excessively with the express intent of increasing how much they receive in commissions. This fraudulent act can be incredibly harmful to investors as it both prevents their principal from growing as expected, and it causes the customer to incur the highly unnecessary sales charges paid to the brokers as their commissions. These charges can very easily rack up and significantly drain an investor’s principal.
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 due to this fraud or negligence 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 Donald Fowler, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation. Oakes & Fosher handles cases on a contingency basis, which means there are no fees charged unless we collect for you.
