Goodman & Nekvasil P.A., May Recover Investor Losses | Jodie LaMarre, Financial Advisor Jodie LaMarre Suspended from Securities Industry
Jodie LaMarre CRD #2127928
Jodie LaMarre was formerly licensed with Janney Montgomery Scott and Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated in Sarasota, Florida. FINRA reports that Jodie LaMarre was suspended from the securities industry for 1 year in March, 2018.
According to FINRA: Jodie LaMarre consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that she recommended an unsuitable strategy involving the consolidation of all of an elderly customer’s assets in a single taxable account without regard to the fact that several of these assets were in tax-deferred accounts or investment vehicles. The findings stated that Jodie LaMarre failed to give adequate consideration to the significant losses her client would incur as a result of the tax consequences of this recommendation. Jodie LaMarre thus did not have a reasonable basis to believe that the recommended strategy was suitable for the customer’s investment profile. The customer had a total net worth of less than $200,000 and was living on a fixed income. As a senior living on a fixed income, she had relatively low reportable income on her federal tax return and avoiding the payment of unnecessary federal income taxes was critically important to her long-term financial stability. Jodie LaMarre was aware of and understood these negative tax consequences as a result of her review of disclosure paperwork, and also understood in each instance that other options were available that would have eliminated or reduced these consequences. Jodie LaMarre’s unsuitable recommendation resulted in unnecessary tax liability of more than $33,000. Moreover, the substantial spike in the customer’s taxable income for 2014 resulted in a reduction of her 2016 social security benefit by $264.80 a month.
The findings also stated that Jodie LaMarre made a false statement on disclosure paperwork with the intention to conceal her role in recommending that another customer directly contact his two-variable annuity (VA) providers to make substantial cash withdrawals, even though the customer held both VAs in her member firm’s accounts. Jodie LaMarre also made false and/or misleading statements to her firm and FINRA about her role in the transactions. Jodie LaMarre had played the integral role in persuading this customer, who was her long-standing customer, to make the substantial withdrawals from his VAs independently and without the firm’s supervision and oversight. Jodie LaMarre provided instructions to the customer on how to make the withdrawals and provided him with phone numbers and policy numbers. Jodie LaMarre’s instructions to the customer were directly contrary to the firm’s written supervisory procedures (WSPs), which require that all VA withdrawals must include the completion of disclosure paperwork and executed through its annuity and insurance operations department. Additionally, after Jodie LaMarre realized that Jodie LaMarre made a mistake by orchestrating these withdrawals away from the firm’s oversight and supervision, she completed withdrawal paperwork after the fact, and included a false statement on that paperwork. The customer complained to Jodie LaMarre about her recommendation and the negative impact it would have on his financial situation. However, in violation of the firm’s WSPs, Jodie LaMarre did not report the customer’s complaint to management or compliance at the firm.
If you lost money on investments with Jodie LaMarre 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 concerning Jodie LaMarre 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 Jodie LaMarre 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.
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