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. The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is interested in hearing from investors who believe this may be them.
Oakes & Fosher is currently investigating the possible misconduct of former securities broker Thomas E. Andrews. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Thomas E. Andrews has been the subject of an SEC sanction.
Thomas E. Andrews was a Utah based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for ten years. He spent his entire career registered with LPL Financial.
The Allegations
According to a report released by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Thomas E. Andrews defrauded twenty three investors over a five year period. According to the SEC, Andrews convinced these investors to liquidate their other investments and invest in two products that he called “The Jackson Trust” and “The Lincoln.” He allegedly promised those who invested in the Jackson Trust annual returns of 6 to 8.5 percent, while promising those whom invested in The Lincoln returns of 5% or the quarterly S&P index return, whichever one of those was greater. However, according to the findings, neither of these products actually existed, and Thomas E. Andrews actually converted these investor funds for his own personal use. Andrews created and mailed false account statements and even had his assistant pretend to be a Jackson Trust supervisor over the phone when communicating with these individuals. Jackson allegedly converted almost $8.4 million from these investors over this five year period. Thomas E. Andrews pled guilty to charges of both securities fraud and mail fraud. He was sentenced to 97 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.
What Does This Mean?
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 Can Help
Oakes & Fosher dedicates its entire legal practice to helping investors across the nation. If you, or someone you know, have lost money investing with Thomas E. Andrews, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation.
