Goodman & Nekvasil P.A., May Recover Investor Losses | Ben Dembla, Financial Advisor Barred from Securities Industry
Ben Dembla was licensed with Merrill Lynch from 2001 to 2016. FINRA reports that Ben Dembla was barred from the securities industry on February 5, 2019. FINRA reports that Ben Dembla consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that Ben Dembla entered and later canceled fictitious mutual fund sell orders to circumvent restrictions placed by his member firm and mutual fund providers on the amount of Class B shares an investor can own. The findings stated these fictitious sell orders and subsequent purchases of Class B shares caused the accounts of customers to exceed the accumulation limit by a total of $863,000. FINRA reports that the firm subsequently provided $31,801 in restitution to these customers. The findings also stated that Ben Dembla caused the firm to maintain inaccurate books and records by making false entries on firm databases as to why the clients wanted to sell Class B shares.
Merrill Lynch reported to FINRA that Ben Dembla was discharged on August 24, 2016. Merrill Lynch reported to FINRA allegations of conduct including circumventing Firm limitations on the accumulation of mutual fund shares in customer accounts resulting in a loss of management’s confidence.
FINRA also reports that 4 complaints involving Ben Dembla’s conduct with Merrill Lynch, alleging unsuitable investment recommendations have been settled. One of these complaints settled for $200,000.
If you lost money on investments with Ben Dembla and believe the investments may have been unsuitable or otherwise improper for you, we would like to discuss the possibility of your retaining our firm to represent you in an arbitration action against Merrill Lynch concerning Ben Dembla’s conduct. There is no charge for an evaluation of your case. Further, we handle our cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that unless we recover money for you, we charge no attorney’s fee. Unless you recover any money, you pay us nothing, not even the costs and expenses which the firm will advance on your behalf.
Kalju Nekvasil, Esq., formerly regional counsel with the NASD, now known as FINRA, has practiced in this area of the law for more than 35 years. Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A. has recovered more than $180 million on behalf of victimized investors. If you lost money on investments with Ben Dembla and would like your case evaluated by a securities attorney (again, there is no charge for an evaluation and all cases are handled on a purely contingency fee basis), please contact us.