The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of securities broker Pratul Agnihotri. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Pratul Agnihotri has been the subject of multiple customer disputes.
Pratul Agnihotri is a New York based securities broker. He has worked in the securities industry for nineteen years. During his career, he was registered with eleven different securities firms.
His Registrations
- May, Davis Group Inc. (1999-2000, 2002)
- Milestone Group Management (2001-2002)
- Joseph Stevens & Company (2002-2003)
- Harrison Securities (2003-2004)
- LH Ross & Company (2004)
- J.P. Turner & Company (2004-2005)
- Basic Investors Inc. (2005-2008)
- Gunnallen Financial (2008-2010)
- Aegis Capital Corp. (2010-2017)
- Spartan Capital Securities (2017-2019)
- SW Financial (2019-Present)
The Allegations
- In February 2005, a customer alleged that Pratul Agnihotri executed unauthorized trades. This case was settled for $7,300 in damages.
- In October 2010, a customer alleged that Pratul Agnihotri executed unauthorized trades and charged excessive commissions.
- In October 2019, a customer alleged that Pratul Agnihotri engaged in unauthorized trading, failed to follow instructions, handled their account negligently, engaged in selling away, and breached his fiduciary duty. This case is presently pending. The customer is seeking $650,000 in damages.
- In October 2019, FINRA opened up an investigation into Pratul Agnihotri’s potentially engaging in outside business activities.
What Does This Mean?
The term “selling away” is used to describe it when securities brokers recommend investments to their customers outside their member firm’s scope. These types of investments are private in nature and do not trade on any public securities exchanges. Because of this, they are incredibly difficult to regulate. Securities firms are well aware that these types of investments are usually incredibly unsuitable for investors. Because of this, they prohibit their registered brokers from recommending these types of securities without first obtaining the firms’ authorization. Many brokers circumvent this procedure when they believe their member firm will not approve of the private investment they wish to recommend. However, this does not free the securities firm from liability. A securities firm is still responsible for any harm their customers might incur from investing in unsuitable private investments on the registered broker’s recommendation.
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 Pratul Agnihotri, 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.
