Dawn Bennett Seeks Reinstatement

Barred financial advisor and radio show host Dawn Bennett loses again in her battle against the Securities and Exchange Commission as she seeks reinstatement.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia on December 16 upheld a lower-court decision that said she must conduct her appeal of an SEC administrative law judge’s ban on her practice within the agency before she can proceed in federal courts.

As we told you last summer, the SEC barred Bennett and fined her and her firm, Bennett Financial Group $4.1 million for allegedly “grossly inflating” the assets she and her firm managed . The former broker and advisor, who continues to broadcast her weekly self-sponsored Financial Myth Busting programs, allegedly lied to SEC examiners during their investigation and, according to the ruling by Administrative Law Judge James E. Grimes, is untrustworthy and unfit to serve as a financial advisor.

Bennett, a former top-ranked Barron’s advisor, is appealing the ruling within the SEC’s administrative proceedings even as she seeks to overturn the ruling through appeals in the federal court system. She claims the administrative law judge decisions are unconstitutional because the judges are not appointed by the SEC’s commissioners.

Bennett filed her internal appeal in August, which stayed the necessity to pay the fine, and is reportedly waiting for a response from the Commission.

The SEC can affirm, reverse, modify or remand an ALJ’s decision, but it is not expected to act anytime soon as the five-person Commission is currently short two commissioners.

In a separate case, Bennett is also fighting FINRA’s claims that she failed to comply with an investigation into whether she used $6 million raised from investors for a retail clothing company for her personal benefit.

Dawn Bennett Investment Losses

The White Law Group represents several of Dawn Bennett clients and continues to investigate the liability that her FINRA registered employer, Western International Securities, may have for failure to properly supervise her.

Those claims generally allege breach of fiduciary duty, negligent supervision, and unsuitability and relate to high-risk bets on gold and gold investments.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Franklin, Tennessee.

For more information on The White Law Group and its representation of investors in FINRA arbitration claims, visit http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.  For a free consultation with a securities attorney, please call the firm at 888-637-5510.