Investor Alert: Dennis Van Patter suspended by FINRA

Investigation Update on Dennis Van Patter

According to FINRA, Dennis Van Patter (CRD# 1364583), a financial advisor registered with VSR Financial in Plano, Texas since 1997, recently entered into a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent (AWC) to resolve allegations that he violated numerous NASD and FINRA rules by recommending investments that were not suitable for his customer.

According to the AWC, while associated with VSR Financial Services, he allegedly recommended that a customer, a retired commercial pilot, invest $1.614 million in alternative investments such as REITs, note programs, oil & gas drilling partnerships and private placements.

Per FINRA, the investments recommended by Van Patter were all described in the offering documents as being “speculative,” “highly speculative,” “highly risky,” and/or involving a “high degree of risk.” According to FINRA, this was contrary to the customer’s expressed desires.

In addition to making recommendations that were far riskier that the customer’s expressed wishes, FINRA noted that as a result of Van Patter’s recommendations the customer had approximately 52% of his liquid net worth concentrated in high risk alternative investments.

FINRA further alleged that as a result these actions, Van Patter violated NASD Conduct Rule 2310, NASD Conduct Rule 2210, and FINRA Rule 2010.

The AWC was signed by Van Patter on 11/5/2015.  As part of the AWC, Van Patter was suspended from association with any FINRA member for 45 days and fined $10,000.

Full FINRA Allegations, see FINRA AWC No. 2013036647401.

According to Van Patter’s FINRA BrokerCheck, he has been the subject of 8 customer complaints.  It appears that many of the customer complaints involve similar allegations as those raised by FINRA in its AWC.

The White Law Group is investigating the liability that VSR Financial may have for failure to properly supervise Van Patter.  Brokerage firms are required to perform adequate due diligence on any investments they recommend and to ensure that all recommendations that are made are suitable in light of that client’s age, investment experience, net worth, investment objectives, and time horizon.  If a firm permits unsuitable investments to be made, the firm can be held responsible for the losses in a FINRA arbitration claim.

Recovery of Investment Losses

If you suffered losses investing with Dennis Van Patter and would like to discuss your litigation options, please call the securities attorneys of The White Law Group at 888-637-5510 for a free consultation.

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 firm, visit http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.