Goodman & Nekvasil P.A., May Recover Investor Losses | Michael Lessard, Financial Advisor Suspended by FINRA
Michael Lessard was formerly licensed with Dempsey Lord Smith, LLC, Southeast Investments, N.C., Inc. and Metlife Securities, Inc. FINRA reports that Michael Lessard was discharged from Dempsey Lord Smith, LLC in 2018. Dempsey Lord Smith, LLC reported to FINRA that during email review the firm allegedly found that Michael Lessard had borrowed money from a client prior to registering with Dempsey. Additionally, Dempsey Lord Smith, LLC reported that on 5/1/2018 the firm allegedly told Michael Lessard that Michael Lessard was under investigation for borrowing funds from a client which is against Dempsey’s policies and procedures. Additionally, Dempsey Lord Smith, LLC reported to FINRA that on 5/2/2018 Michael Lessard allegedly borrowed 22,000.00 from another client without communicating with the firm and the client had Lessard sign a contract prior to loaning the money.
In addition, FINRA reports that Michael Lessard was suspended from the securities and investment banking industry for 4 months in 2016. FINRA reports that Michael Lessard consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that Michael Lessard forged a customer’s name on a fixed annuity application and falsified his member firm’s customer contact log. According to FINRA, the findings stated that about three weeks after Michael Lessard’s customer signed the fixed annuity application, Michael Lessard realized that he had failed to submit the customer’s application for processing within the required timeframe and the application had since expired. According to FINRA, Michael Lessard then generated a new application and proceeded to forge the customer’s signature by tracing it onto the new application. According to FINRA, Michael Lessard then entered false information on the firm’s customer contact log. According to FINRA, Michael Lessard’s entry indicated that he spoke with the customer on a certain date regarding the fixed annuity application. However, according to FINRA, that activity did not occur on that date but weeks prior. According to FINRA, that later date is the date on which Michael Lessard forged the new application and submitted it to the carrier. According to FINRA, Michael Lessard also caused Michael Lessard’s firm’s books and records to be inaccurate.
If you lost any money on investments with Michael Lessard, you may be able to recover your losses from Dempsey Lord Smith, LLC, Southeast Investments, N.C., Inc. and/or Metlife Securities, Inc. This is because Dempsey Lord Smith, LLC, Southeast Investments, N.C., Inc. and Metlife Securities, Inc. had a duty to supervise Caroline Korn.
If you lost money on investments with Michael Lessard 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 Dempsey Lord Smith, LLC, Southeast Investments, N.C., Inc. and/or Metlife Securities, Inc. concerning Michael Lessard’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 Michael Lessard 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.