Goodman & Nekvasil P.A., May Recover Investor Losses | Kelly Althar, Financial Advisor Barred from Securities Industry
Kelly Althar was licensed with Financial West Group from 2011 to 2015. FINRA reports that Kelly Althar was barred from the securities and investment banking industry by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on February 10, 2017. FINRA reports that Kelly Althar consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that Kelly Althar made unsuitable recommendations and engaged in excessive trading in two accounts held by an elderly customer. The findings stated that Kelly Althar engaged in high volume trading to generate commissions and over concentrated the customer’s accounts in risky securities, despite the fact that the customer was close to retirement and wanted only low risk investments.
According to FINRA, Kelly Althar’s trading decimated the customer’s accounts, which constituted the bulk of her net worth and retirement savings. According to FINRA, after the customer opened her accounts with Kelly Althar at Kelly Althar’s member firm, Kelly Althar exercised de facto control over both her accounts. According to FINRA, Kelly Althar frequently placed trades in her accounts without consulting with her prior to trades. According to FINRA, Kelly Althar often purchased, sold, and subsequently repurchased the same security in the customer’s accounts within a short period of time. The findings also stated that Kelly Althar used this control to excessively trade these accounts in a manner that was inconsistent with the customer’s investment objectives, financial situation and needs. According to FINRA, the level of trading was excessive because the trading strategy resulted in costs so high the possibility of profit was remote. According to FINRA, by requiring a minimum return of over 20 percent just to break even in either account, Kelly Althar’s strategy was unsuitable for these accounts.
FINRA also reports that a complaint was filed involving Kelly Althar’s conduct with Financial West Group, alleging lack of performance, unsuitability and frequent trading. This complaint was settled for $60,000.
If you lost any money on investments with Kelly Althar, you may be able to recover your losses from Financial West Group and/or Paulson Investment Company LLC. This is because Financial West Group and Paulson Investment Company LLC had a duty to supervise Kelly Althar.
If you lost money on investments with Kelly Althar and believe that 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 Financial West Group and/or Paulson Investment Company LLC concerning Kelly Althar’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.
Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A. has recovered approximately $180 million on behalf of victimized investors. If you lost money on investments with Kelly Althar 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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