The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker Martin Batstone. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Martin Batstone has been the subject of a customer dispute and a FINRA sanction.
Martin Batstone was a California based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for twenty-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
- Thomas James Associates (1991-1992)
- IDS Life Insurance Company (1992-2006)
- Ameriprise Financial Services (1992-2007)
- QA3 Financial (2007-2009)
- Independent Financial Group (2009-2017)
- Crown Capital Securities (2017-2018)
- Newbridge Securities Corporation (2018-2019)
The Allegations
- In June 2015, it was alleged that Martin Batstone breached his fiduciary duty by allegedly failing to affirm a customer’s beneficiary designations in writing. This made the customer’s spouse unable to collect distributions upon the customer’s death. This case was settled for $55,000 in damages.
- In October 2019, Martin Batstone was officially sanctioned by FINRA. The findings in this matter state that he converted customer funds for his own personal use. Batstone allegedly solicited $75,000 from member firm customers to invest in a small limited liability company that supposedly provided brand management and product placement services for athletes and entertainers. However, instead of using all of the invested funds for operating costs, Batstone transferred a portion of it to his own personal account and used the funds for his own personal use. As a result of these findings, Batstone was indefinitely barred from acting as a securities broker in all capacities.
Converting Funds
A securities broker converting funds into their personal bank accounts is one example of misappropriation, which essentially is the same thing as theft. A misappropriation of funds is when a securities broker misuses the funds from one agreed upon purpose for another purpose. Often, brokers will simply deposit these funds into their own account. This is conversion.
Oakes & Fosher
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 Martin Batstone, 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.
