The Investor Advocate Law Firm of Oakes & Fosher, LLC, www.oakesfosher.com, a law firm specializing in representing investors in cases against stock brokers and brokerage firms, announced today that a three-member Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitration Panel unanimously awarded a former customer of National Planning Corporation $2,629,273 in compensatory and punitive damages.
The former customer alleged that National Planning Corporation and its broker, William Glaser, engaged in a variety of unsuitable and fraudulent securities practices which were designed to generate commissions at the expense of the customer. The misconduct included recommending unsuitable variable annuities, equity-indexed annuities and non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs). The financial advisor subsequently instituted a pattern of switching annuities so that he could generate new commissions. The broker also sold promissory notes of a private company to the customer as well. The customer alleged that the brokerage firm failed in its supervisory responsibilities and duties to prevent the unsuitable and self-serving conduct of its broker. The FINRA Arbitration Panel ordered National Planning Corporation to pay its former customer $1,583,443 in compensatory damages as well as costs incurred. The FINRA Panel deemed the conduct of National Planning Corporation and its broker to have been egregious, and, as a result, the arbitrators also unanimously awarded the customer $1 million in punitive damages.
About Oakes & Fosher, LLC: The law firm of Oakes & Fosher, LLC dedicates its entire legal practice to representing investors who have been victimized by unscrupulous brokers and brokerage firms. Over the past twenty years, the firm has represented thousands of investors throughout the country and helped them recover the losses they are due when brokerage firms and their brokers engage in negligent or fraudulent conduct relating to the purchase or sale of securities.
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Media Contact:
Bruce Oakes
314.428.7600
boakes@oakesfosher.com
