The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has charged broker Gopi Krishana Vungarala with allegedly lying to clients about commissions he received for selling non-traded REITs and business development companies (BDCs).

According to Investment News, FINRA claims Gopi Krishana Vungarala “regularly lied” to his customer, a Native American tribe, regarding investments he recommended.

FINRA further alleged Vungarala “fraudulently induced” the tribe to invest $190 million in non-traded REITs and business development companies and failed to inform the tribe of the $11.4 million in commissions generated, $9.6 million of which went to him. In addition, Vungarala failed to disclose certain volume discounts available to the tribe.

Vuanguarla was a registered representative of Purshe Kaplan Sterling and was also employed as the tribes Treasury investment advisor.

According to Investment News, FINRA has also charged Purshe Kaplan Sterling with supervisory failures for not detecting Vungarala’s fraudulent conduct.

The foregoing information, which is all publicly available, is being provided by The White Law Group.

The White Law Group is a national securities arbitration, securities fraud, and investor protection law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Vero Beach, Florida. The firm represents investors throughout the country in FINRA arbitration claims against their brokerage firm. For a free consultation with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 1-888-6375510.

For more information on The White Law Group, visit www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.