Joseph Thurnherr Allegedly Churns His Clients’ Accounts

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

Joseph Thurnherr was a New York-based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for nine years. During his career, he was registered with eight different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.

His Registrations

• J.P. Turner & Company (2009-2010)


• National Securities Corporation (2010-2011, 2012-2014)


• Legend Securities (2011-2012)


• Obsidian Financial Group (2012)


• First Standard Financial Company (2014-2015)


• Windsor Street Capital (2015-2017)


• Spartan Capital Securities (2017-2018)


• Wynston Hill Capital (2018-2019)

The Allegations

• In June 2015, a customer alleged that Joseph Thurnherr churned their account, excessively traded their account, placed them in unsuitable holdings, executed unauthorized trades, handled their account negligently, breached his fiduciary duty, breached contract, and made material misrepresentations. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $536,180 in damages.


• In June 2016, a customer alleged that Joseph Thurnherr placed them in unsuitable holdings and over-concentrated their account in said holdings. This case was settled for $14,249 in damages.


• In April 2017, a customer alleged that Joseph Thurnherr churned their account, engaged in an unauthorized use of margin, recommended unsuitable securities, and executed unauthorized trades. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $383,000 in damages.


• In February 2019, a customer alleged that Joseph Thurnherr recommended unsuitable investments, made material misrepresentations, and breached his fiduciary duty. This case was settled for $50,000 in damages.

What is Churning?

There are two main methods that securities brokers are compensated for their services. One is by charging their customers a flat fee that is determined by the value of the account they are managing. The other is by charging the investor a percentage of their principal investment, every time they execute a transaction on their behalf. This percentage acts as their commission for brokering the trade. The latter method of compensation often leads to a fraudulent trading practice known as churning. This practice occurs when a securities broker trades an investor's account excessively with the express intent of increasing their own commissions. In churning, this takes place even if the trades being executed serve no actual financial benefit to the investor. This act can be detrimental to investors due to the excessive fees it causes them to incur that greatly diminish their principal investment.

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 Joseph Thurnherr, 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.