James Lamont Allegedly Recommends Customers Invest In The Fraudulent Woodbridge Group Of Companies

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

James Lamont was a California based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for twenty-two 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

• Fortis Investors (1997)


• Walnut Street Securities (1997-2002)


• Sammons Securities Company (2002-2006)


• Independent Financial Group (2006-2015)


• Whitehall-Parker Securities (2015-2019)

The Allegations

• In August 2009, a customer alleged that James Lamont made material misrepresentations and omissions of material facts and breached his fiduciary duty in connection with the sale of tenant in common property. This case was settled for $93,400 in damages.


• In August 2011, a customer alleged that James Lamont breached his fiduciary duty, handled their account negligently, and made material misrepresentations in connection with a TIC investment. This case was settled for $250,000 in damages.


• In September 2011, a customer alleged that James Lamont made material misrepresentations and omissions of material facts, breached his fiduciary duty, and handled their account negligently in connection with a TIC investment. This case was settled for $210,000 in damages.


• In April 2012, a customer alleged that James Lamont committed fraud and made material misrepresentations of material facts. This case was settled for $160,000 in damages.


• In March 2013, a customer alleged that James Lamont made material misrepresentations, breached contract, and handled their account negligently in connection with oil and gas private placements and non-traded REITs. This case was settled for $160,000 in damages.


• In July 2013, a customer alleged that James Lamont breached contract, breached his fiduciary duty, violated state and federal securities laws, and recommended unsuitable investments all in connection with Tenancy in Common investments. This case was settled for $95,000 in damages.


• In October 2019, James Lamont was officially sanctioned by FINRA. The findings in this matter state that he solicited investors to purchase promissory notes connected to a fraudulent non-traded REIT associated with the Woodbridge Group of Companies. Lamont allegedly sold $1,467,000 in fraudulent notes while receiving $81,417 in ill gotten commissions. Due to these allegations, James Lamont was fined $10,000, forced to repay the $81,417 in disgorgement, and suspended from acting as a securities broker in any fashion for a period of eighteen months.


• In October 2019, a customer alleged that James Lamont recommended unsuitable investments. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $99,500 in damages.


• In April 2020, a customer alleged that James Lamont over-concentrated their account in illiquid, low-quality, and high commission alternative investments. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $2 million in damages.

Woodbridge Group Of Companies

The Woodbridge Group of Companies was a parent company to multiple non-traded REITs operating under names like The Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Fund's 1, 2, 3A, 3, and 4 and the Woodbridge Commercial Bridge Loan Fund's 1 and 2. While most non-traded REITs are unsuitable for investors, this one in particular took it to an entirely new level. The Woodbridge Group of Companies was described by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a massive billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Selling agents for the multiple funds under this company solicited almost $1.2 billion from 8,400 investors--most of whom were elderly individuals. Brokers like James Lamont sold fraudulent promissory notes to these individuals claiming they were backed by mortgages. The customers were supposed to receive annual interest rates between 5 and 8 percent that were supposed to be paid out monthly. However, the funds were not actually providing any mortgages and were thus not generating any income. Because of this, the monthly distributions were being paid through money coming in from later rounds of investors. This continued until the Woodbridge Group of Companies filed for bankruptcy. Brokers like James Lamont failed to do their necessary due diligence by recommending this fraudulent investment to their customers. Rather they ignored the warning signs in order to receive the excessively high commissions.

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 James Lamont, 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.