Walter Marino Allegedly Recommends Highly Unsuitable Annuity Switches

The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the possible misconduct of former securities broker Walter Marino. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Walter Marino has been the subject of multiple customer disputes.

Walter Marino was a New York based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for twenty-two years. During his career, he was registered with thirteen different securities firms.

His Registrations

• Painewebber Incorporated (1993-1994)


• First Hanover Securities (1994)


• Westfield Financial Corporation (1994)


• Stratton Oakmont (1995-1996)


• H G I (1997)


• The J.B. Sutton Group (1997-1998)


• Berry-Shino Securities (1999-2000)


• Brill Securities (2000-2001)


• Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum (2001-2002)


• Legend Equities Corporation (2002-2015)


• Lincoln Investment (2015-2016)


• Benjamin Securities (2016)

The Allegations

• In February 1996, a customer alleged that Walter Marino engaged in unauthorized trading. This case was settled for $14,250 in damages.


• In August 2001, Walter Marino resigned from his position at Brill Securities amidst more allegations of unauthorized trading.


• In July 2003, a customer alleged that Walter Marino recommended unsuitable recommendations, engaged in fraudulent misrepresentation, violated the securities exchange act, negligently handled their account, and breached his fiduciary duty. This case was settled for $50,000 in damages.


• All throughout 2016, Walter Marino was the subject of twelve complaints from customers alleging that he charged them excessive commissions. Nine complaints have been settled for a total of $300,500 in damages. Three complaints are still pending. The customers in these cases are seeking a total of $373,101 in damages.


• In April 2017, Walter Marino was officially sanctioned by FINRA. The findings in this matter state that he recommended unsuitable variable annuity exchanges to two customers without having a reasonable basis to believe the transactions were suitable. These alleged actions resulted in great financial benefit to him and serious financial harm to the customers. Walter Marino allegedly received $60,000 in commissions for executing the transactions. On the other hand, one of the customers was forced to pay a surrender charge of $82,523 after surrendering her variable annuity. Due to these alleged actions, he was suspended by FINRA from acting as a securities broker in any fashion for a period of one year. He had been terminated from his position at Lincoln Investment six months prior when the allegations first came to light.

Annuity Switches

An annuity is an investment vehicle that investors use to receive income during their retirement. It involves the individual paying scheduled premiums up until their retirement date. At which point they begin receiving scheduled distributions to act as their income during retirement.

Despite what brokers may tell you, annuities are actually only suitable for a certain type of investor. This is because they are incredibly illiquid. There are excessively high surrender charges that occur when an individual needs to withdraw from, or completely surrender their annuity during its surrender period--the period before their retirement date. This surrender charge also occurs during annuity exchanges.

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 Walter Marino, 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.