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 that have lost money in this fashion may 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 Laws. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Thomas Laws has been the subject of an SEC sanction.
Thomas Laws was a New Mexico based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for fifteen years. During his career, he was registered with two different securities firms.
His Registrations
- NYLIFE Securities (2002-2006)
- HD Vest Investment Services (2006-2017)
The Allegations
Thomas Laws’ publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report shows that he was sanctioned by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2018. The findings in this matter state that Santa Fe Gold Corporation, a mining company in New Mexico, raised almost $7 million from selling unregistered securities. Between August 2016 an February 2018, the company allegedly transferred Thomas Laws approximately $1.1 million of those raised investor funds. This was done so that Thomas Laws could use the funds for corporate purposes that included purchasing a silver mine, the acquisition of mining claims, the purchase of mining equipment, and for third party services to the company. However, instead of using these investor funds for these stated purposes, Laws allegedly converted these funds for his own personal use. He attempted to cover up his deceit by creating fictitious documents. After allegedly failing to comply with a FINRA investigation into the matter, he was barred from acting as a securities broker in any fashion.
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 Laws, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation.
