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 investors who have lost money in this fashion may be entitled to damages. The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is interested in hearing from investors who believe that this may be them.
Oakes & Fosher is currently investigating the possible misconduct of former securities broker Donald Toomer. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Donald Toomer was sanctioned by the SEC.
Donald Toomer operated most recently as a Nevada based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for eighteen years. During his career, he was registered with six different securities firms.
His Registrations
- Painewebber Incorporated (1997-1999)
- Sutro & Co. Inc. (1999)
- Prudential Securities Incorporated (1999-2001)
- RBC Dain Rauscher Inc. (2001-2005)
- Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network (2005-2015)
The Allegations
Donald Toomer allegedly became involved in an investment scheme designed to defraud investors. Toomer allegedly purchased shares of three microcap stocks in client accounts. He allegedly did this after receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash kickbacks. Donald Toomer allegedly used his position as a securities broker to inflate the appearance of the market demand for these securities. He did this to initiate a fraudulent “pump and dump” scheme which in turn generated profits of $13 million for the respondent who solicited Toomer. Due to these alleged actions, Donald Toomer is currently facing pending criminal charges of Securities Fraud, Investment Adviser Fraud, and Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud and Investment Adviser Fraud.
Donald Toomer resigned from his position at Wells Fargo amidst the allegations.
What Does This Mean?
A “pump and dump” scheme is primarily operated through privately traded securities. This is because the value of a security cannot be as easily manipulated when it is traded on public securities exchanges. Private placements on the other hand can be easily manipulated due to the significant lack of oversight that occurs when dealing with these products.
The way it works is that the party perpetrating the scheme misrepresents what a particular security is actually valued at. This is done to numerous customers. The perpetrating party will usually talk up the product as an incredible investment opportunity that investors will kick themselves if they miss out on.
Imagine that a private placement is valued at $0.50 a share; however, the perpetrator has inflated the price to $1.50 per share. They then talk up this product and solicit investors to purchase it at the inflated price. Once numerous investors have purchased shares of the product at three times what it was actually valued at, the value of the security actually does increase. Once this happens, the perpetrating party then sells their shares to make a profit.
Investors who believe that they lost money due to a “pump and dump” scheme may be entitled to damages.
Oakes & Fosher Can Help
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 Toomer, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation.
