The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker Mariondy Fernandez. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Mariondy Fernandez has been the subject of multiple customer disputes.
Mariondy Fernandez was a Massachusetts based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for fourteen years. During his career, he was registered with three different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.
His Registrations
- Prudential Securities Incorporated (2001-2003)
- Wachovia Securities (2003-2005)
- Santander Securities (2005-2016)
The Allegations
- In May 2014, a customer alleged that Mariondy Fernandez breached his fiduciary duty, managed their account negligently, committed fraud, and breached contract. This case was settled for $300,000 in damages.
- Also in May 2014, a customer alleged that Mariondy Fernandez committed fraud, engaged in deceitful behavior, engaged in reckless behavior, managed their account negligently, and breached contract. This case was settled for $413,000 in damages.
- In November 2014, customers alleged that Mariondy Fernandez committed fraud, breached his fiduciary duty, breached contract, and managed their account negligently. This case was settled for $192,500 in damages.
- In July 2015, customers alleged that Mariondy Fernandez committed fraud, engaged in deceitful behavior, engaged in reckless behavior, and managed their account negligently concerning Puerto Rico municipal bonds and closed-end funds. This case was settled for $70,000 in damages.
- In September 2015, more customers alleged that Mariondy Ferandez committed fraud, engaged in deceitful behavior, engaged in reckless behavior, and managed their account negligently concerning the sale of Puerto Rico municipal bonds and closed-end funds. This case was settled for $510,000 in damages.
- In January 2016, customers alleged that Mariondy Fernandez managed their account negligently, breached his fiduciary duty, and breached contract concerning the sale of Puerto Rico closed-end funds. This case was settled for $1.15 million in damages.
- In June 2016, customers alleged that Mariondy Fernandez committed fraud, recommended unsuitable investments, managed their account negligently, breached contract, and breached his fiduciary duty concerning the sale of Puerto Rico closed-end funds. This case was settled for $80,000 in damages.
- In October 2016, a customer alleged that Mariondy Fernandez recommended unsuitable investments, over-concentrated their account, committed fraud, violated securities laws, engaged in deceitful behavior, managed their account negligently, breached contract, and breached his fiduciary duties concerning the sale of Puerto Rico bonds and closed-end funds. This case was settled for $700,000 in damages.
- In June 2017, a customer alleged that Mariondy Fernandez recommended unsuitable investments, over-concentrated their account, violated securities laws, breached his fiduciary duty, breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealings, managed their account negligently, and breached contract. This case was settled for $40,000 in damages.
- In August 2018, a customer alleged that Mariondy Fernandez over-concentrated their account, recommended unsuitable investments, breached his fiduciary duty, breached contract, managed their account negligently, committed fraud, engaged in constructive fraud, and violated securities laws and rules. These allegations also concern Puerto Rico bond funds. This case was settled for $190,000 in damages.
- In December 2017, a customer alleged that Mariondy Fernandez over-concentrated their account, recommended unsuitable investments, breached his fiduciary duty, breached contract, committed fraud, and violated securities laws and rules concerning Puerto Rico bonds and bond funds. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $1.9 million in damages.
- In September 2018, a customer alleged that Mariondy Fernandez made material misrepresentations, over-concentrated their account, breached his fiduciary duty, managed their account negligently, committed fraud, breached contract, and recommended unsuitable investments in connection with Puerto Rico bonds and closed-end funds. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $100,000 in damages.
- In November 2019, a customer alleged that Mariondy Fernandez over-concentrated their account, violated securities laws and FINRA rules, managed their account negligently, breached his suitability duty, breached the duty to engage in fair dealings, breached his fiduciary duty, breached contract, and made negligent misrepresentations all in connection with Puerto Rico municipal bonds and closed-end funds. This case is currently pending. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $1 million in damages.
What Does This Mean?
These Puerto Rico bonds and bond funds proved to be very alluring to investors. This is because these investment products were actually triple tax exempt. Normally, municipal bonds are subject to federal, state, and local taxes; however, since Puerto Rico is not technically a state, they were able to waive all of these taxes. Also, investors usually need to reside locally in order to take advantage of a bond’s tax exemptions; however, these Puerto Rico bonds and bond funds actually provided the tax exemptions to investors all over the United States. However, these tax exemptions greatly contributed to a decline in Puerto Rico’s financial state and the territory eventually declared bankruptcy. This caused the territory to default on its issued bonds and bond funds, making the investment products effectively worthless.
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 Mariondy Fernandez, 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.
