The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker Frank Dietrich. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Frank Dietrich has been the subject of numerous customer disputes.
Frank Dietrich was a California based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for twenty-three years. During his career, he was registered with five different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.
His Registrations
- PFS Investments (1994-1999)
- The Leaders Group (2000-2002)
- Capital Securities of America (2002-2007)
- Wunderlich Securities (2007-2013)
- Quest Capital Strategies (2013-2018)
The Allegations
Frank Dietrich was officially sanctioned by FINRA. The findings in this matter state that he solicited funds from multiple member firm customers to invest in an outside investment fund connected to what was known as the Woodbridge Group of Companies. This investment was outside his member firm’s scope and did not seek his firm’s approval before recommending it. According to the findings, Frank Dietrich sold almost $11 million worth of Woodbridge promissory notes to these customers. This provided him over $260,000 in commissions for brokering the trades. Woodbridge later filed for bankruptcy which made these promissory notes utterly worthless. Some of these customers filed complaints against Quest Capital Strategies due to their failure to prevent their employee from engaging in these harmful practices. Due to these alleged actions, Frank Dietrich was barred by FINRA from acting as a securities broker in any fashion.
What Does This Mean?
The Woodbridge Group of Companies was described by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a massive Ponzi Scheme. Numerous securities brokers over the country sold these promissory notes for multiple Woodbridge funds to unsuspecting investors claiming the notes would be backed by mortgages. These brokers also promised these note purchasers annual interest rates between 5 and 8 percent to be paid out in monthly distributions. However, instead of providing mortgages, these invested funds were simply distributed to numerous LLCs housed under the Woodbridge umbrella. Essentially, no growth was taking place. However, Woodbridge still needed to make interest payments to note holders and thus solicited new rounds of investors. This Ponzi scheme continued until Woodbridge filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and the entire thing collapsed. These recommending brokers did not perform the adequate due diligence that would have helped them realize these Woodbridge funds were fraudulent and highly unsuitable. Many less than scrupulous securities broker merely wanted the large commissions that accompanied recommending these fraudulent notes and either negligently or purposefully ignored all of the warning signs.
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 Frank Dietrich, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation. We work on a contingency basis, which means there are no fees charged unless we collect for you.
