The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is currently investigating the alleged misconduct of securities broker Steven Luftschein. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Steven Luftschein was the subject of multiple customer disputes over the course of his career.
Steven Luftschein was a New York-based securities broker who worked in the securities industry for twenty-one years. During his career, he was registered with twelve different securities firms.
His Registrations
- Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (1995-1996)
- Metlife Securities (1995-1996)
- W. Barclay & Co. (1996-1996)
- Josephthal & Co. (1996-2001)
- Investec Ernst & Company (2001-2002)
- Maxim Group (2002-2004)
- Gunnallen Financial (2004-2010)
- Paulson Investment Company (2010-2011)
- Rockwell Global Capital (2011-2012)
- John Thomas Financial (2012-2013)
- Aegis Capital Corp. (2013-2016)
- Joseph Stone Capital (2016-2018)
The Allegations
- In January 2004, a customer alleged that Steven Luftschein engaged in unauthorized, excessive, and unsuitable trading in her account. This case was settled for $40,000 in damages.
- In March 2004, a customer alleged that Luftschein had excessively traded in their account in an attempt to boost his commissions. This case was settled for $31,400 in damages.
- In March 2004, a customer alleged that Luftschein had excessively traded in their account to boost his commissions. This case was settled for $52,586 in damages.
- In March 2004, a customer alleged that Luftschein had excessively traded in their account to boost his commissions. This case was settled for $15,000 in damages.
- In July 2006, a customer alleged that Luftschein had excessively traded in their account to boost his commissions as well as executed unauthorized and unsuitable trades. This case was settled for $15,000 in damages.
- In April 2010, a customer alleged that Luftschein had failed to follow investment objectives, resulting in substantial losses to portfolio value. This case was settled for $275,000 in damages.
- In June 2016, a customer alleged that Luftschein had recommended unsuitable investments. This case was settled for $782,000 in damages.
- In April 2017, a customer alleged that Luftschein had recommended unsuitable investments, executed unauthorized and excessive trades, made material misrepresentations about investments, and breached his fiduciary duty. This case was settled for $100,000 in damages.
- In August 2017, customers alleged that Luftschein had engaged in unsuitable investment recommendations, unauthorized trading, negligence, excessive trading, and breached of his fiduciary duty. This case was settled for $800,000 in damages.
- In February 2018, a customer alleged that Luftschein had engaged in unauthorized trading and unsuitable investment recommendations. This case was settled for $569,962 in damages.
- In May 2018, a customer alleged that Luftschein had executed unauthorized and unsuitable trades, excessively traded in their account, and breached his fiduciary duty.
- In January 2020, a customer alleged that Luftschein had recommended unsuitable investments and excessively traded in their account. This case is currently pending, and the customer is seeking $200,000 in damages.
Excessive Trading
In regards to the more recent allegations made against Steven Luftschein, the most notable was that of excessive trading. This act can often cause investors to incur a high number of unnecessary fees and prevent their investments from showing desired returns. These fees occur every time a new trade is executed and can very easily rack up in a way that significantly drains the investor’s principal. Excessive trading usually occurs due to the manner in which brokers are compensated for their services. While some brokers charge a flat fee for managing an investor’s account, many brokers are compensated by receiving a percentage of the investor’s principal investment whenever executing a trade on their behalf. This percentage acts as their commission. Some less than scrupulous brokers believe they can get away with trading an investor’s account excessively to increase their own commissions even to the detriment of their customer. This is a fraudulent trading practice known as churning.
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 due to this fraud or negligence 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 Steven Luftschein, 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.
