John Valliades Allegedly Churns His Clients’ Accounts

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

John Valliades was a New York based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for thirty-six years. During his career, he was registered with seven different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.

His Registrations

• Dean Witter Reynolds (1981-1984)


• Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. (1984-1991)


• Lehman Brothers (1991-1993)


• Smith Barney (1993-1995)


• Wayne, Grayson Capital Corp. (1995-1997)


• Gruntal & Co. (1997-1998)


• Petersen Investments (1998-2018)

The Allegations 

• In July 1991, a customer alleged that John Valliades made material misrepresentations, excessively traded their account and recommended unsuitable investments. This case was settled for $250,000 in damages.


• In May 1992, a customer alleged that John Valliades churned their account. This case was settled for approximately $15,000 in damages.


• In September 1994, a customer alleged that John Valliades excessively traded their account, recommended unsuitable investments, made material misrepresentations, failed to follow instructions, and executed unsuitable margin transactions. This case was settled for $92,500 in damages.


• In March 1996, a customer alleged that John Valliades excessively traded their account and executed unsuitable transactions. This case was settled for $30,000 in damages.


• In February 2000, a customer alleged that John Valliades churned their account, recommended unsuitable securities, and over-concentrated their account in speculative option strategies. This case was settled for $7,500 in damages.


• In February 2012, a customer alleged that John Valliades used hard sales tactics concerning the purchase of options. The customer also alleged that he inappropriately described the investments as "safe" and "risk free." This case was settled for $23,600 in damages.


• In June 2014, a customer alleged that John Valliades churned their account, executed unauthorized transactions, and committed fraud. This case was settled for $285,000 in damages.


• In December 2016, John Valliades was officially sanctioned by FINRA. The findings in this matter state that he exercised discretion in three customers' accounts without obtaining prior written authorization or by having his member firm accepting the accounts as discretionary. Due to these alleged actions, John Valliades was fined $5,000 and was suspended from acting as a securities broker in any fashion for a period of 20 business days.

What Does This Mean?

Churning is a fraudulent trading practice in which a securities broker excessively trades a customer's account. This is done because securities brokers receive a percentage of an investor's principal investment whenever executing a transaction on their behalf. This act can be detrimental to investors due to the trading losses that it causes them to incur. It also causes investors to incur significant sales charges in commissions paid to the broker. These charges greatly reduce investor principals and lower their chances of seeing any investment returns.

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 John Valliades, 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.