Have you suffered investment losses due to the purchase of promissory notes through the Van Zandt Agency from Robert Henry Van Zandt? If you have, The White Law Group may be able to assist you in attempting to recover the losses through the FINRA dispute resolution process. Our firm is currently investigating the potential for recovery of the promissory note investments for investors.

The Bronx Times recently wrote a story about Robert J. Van Zandt’s death in an apparent suicide and reported that “Van Zandt had been under investigation by the state Attorney General’s office since April, along with his father Robert Henry Van Zandt, wife Kimmarie Gervasi Van Zandt and several other entities, for running an alleged ponzi scheme through the agency.”  According to the Bronx Times the New York Attorney General’s Office alleges that the “Van Zandts defrauded over 100 investors out of about $20 million by promising returns of 7 to 12 percent per year on phony securities investments.” The Attorney General’s office further alleges that “the Van Zandts were not even licensed to sell the securities they led customers to believe they were investing in” and they also misappropriated some funds for personal uses.

Recovering funds lost to Ponzi scheme investments can be extremely difficult and often much of the money is never recovered. In this case, however, there may be an opportunity to recover some of the investment losses through FINRA arbitration. Robert H. Van Zandt was registered with FINRA member firms during some of the time of the alleged fraud. His FINRA broker report, publicly available from FIRNA.org, shows that from 12/2004-02/2007 he was registered with Metlife Securities Inc., from 12/2006-03/2010 he was registered with the Gunnallen Financial Inc. (Their firm is no longer in business), and then was employed briefly in 2010 by JHS Capital Advisors, Inc. and The Investment Center, Inc.

If Robert H. Van Zandt sold securities through his agency while he was registered with a FINRA member firm his actions may be interpreted as “selling away.” “Selling away” is a major problem for brokerage firms because if a registered broker “sells away” from his firm, the firm may still be liable for negligent supervision of their broker agent. One such FINRA arbitration claim for losses of more than $4 million was reportedly filed this week against Metlife Securities Inc. related to their failure to supervise Mr. Van Zandt.

If you lost money due to your investment with Robert H. Van Zandt and/or the Van Zandt Agency between 2004-2007 or in 2010 and would like to speak to a securities attorney about your potential to recover investment losses through FINRA arbitration please call our Chicago office at 312-238-9650.

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 Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.