Investor Lawyers Blog
Stock fraud lawyers are currently investigating claims on behalf of investors who suffered significant losses as a result of their investment with JP Turner, Ralph Calabro, Jason Konner or Dimitrios Koutsoubos. Earlier in September, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged three brokers, formerly employed at JP Turner & Company in Atlanta, with “churning” accounts, incurring significant fees for themselves and causing significant losses to investors.
In this case, the investors whose accounts were churned had conservative investment objectives. However, securities fraud attorneys say that when “churning” an account, the broker will disregard investment objectives and, instead, excessively trade in the account in order to generate commissions, margin interest, and fees for themselves or the firm at which they are employed. According to the SEC allegations, Calabro, Konner and Koutsoubos engaged in churning between January 2008 and December 2009, while they were employed with JP Turner.
Together, these three brokers generated approximately $845,000 through churning, while their customers suffered significant aggregate losses totaling around $2.7 million. If it can be proven that the firm failed to adequately supervise their brokers, in many cases that firm may be held liable for customer losses regardless of the employees’ ability to reimburse their clients for fraud.
“Broker-dealers’ supervisory systems must provide customers with reasonable protection from churning and similar abuses,” says Associate Director of the SEC’s Atlanta Regional Office, William P. Hicks. “JP Turner’s supervisory system failed to do that.”
As a result, stock fraud lawyers believe investors believe JP Turner could be held liable and made to reimburse defrauded investors’ losses.
If you have suffered significant losses as a result of your investment with JP Turner, Calabro, Konner or Koutsoubos, you may have a valid securities arbitration claim. To find out more about your legal rights and options, contact a securities fraud attorney at The Law Office of Christopher J. Gray at (866) 966-9598 for a no-cost, confidential consultation.