Investor Alert: SEC Charges Criterion Wealth Management Insurance Services for conflicts of interest

Furgison Law Group is investigating claims against Criterion Wealth Management, Robert Gravette and Mark MacArthur

The securities fraud lawyers at Furgison Law Group are currently investigating claims against Criterion Wealth Management Insurance Services, Inc., Robert Allen Gravette and Mark Andrew MacArthur. The arbitration attorneys at Furgison Law Group are investigating claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, failure to supervise, misrepresentations, omissions of material facts, conflict of interests, violations of state and federal securities laws, along with other broker misconduct. The claims relate to the alleged conflicts of interest in private real estate investment funds, as described in the recent SEC Complaint.

SEC Filed Charges Against Criterion, Gravette and MacArthur 

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Criterion Wealth Management Insurance Services, Inc., a Santa Clarita, California, investment advisory firm, and its then co-owners Robert Gravette and Mark MacArthur, also of California, for breaching their fiduciary duty and defrauding their advisory clients by failing to disclose significant financial conflicts of interest when recommending investments in private real estate investment funds.

The SEC's complaint alleges that from 2014 to 2017 the defendants recommended that their advisory clients invest more than $16 million in four private real estate investment funds without disclosing that the fund managers had paid them more than $1 million, which was on top of the fees that defendants were already charging their clients directly. The complaint further alleges the defendants were incentivized to keep their clients invested in the funds, rather than allocate their capital elsewhere, because the additional side compensation was recurring and depended on Criterion's clients remaining invested. For two of the funds, this undisclosed compensation arrangement resulted in reduced investment returns for the defendants' advisory clients.

Investors Have the Right to Recover Their Losses

When investments are sold by brokerage firms licensed by FINRA, they are subject to the laws that FINRA enforces. The brokerage firms are responsible for ensuring that their brokers are trading fairly, ethically and in the best interest of their clients. Ideally, they would accomplish this through careful supervision. Unfortunately, too often this supervision has been inadequate to fully protect investors. If you purchased any investments through a representative of a registered brokerage firm or an unlicensed salesperson and suffered losses through negligence or fraud, it immediately puts the brokerage firm at fault for failing to supervise their broker. Securities law then dictates that you can hold the firm legally liable to recover your damages.

Can I recover my investment losses?

If you lost money as a result of any investments purchased through Criterion, Gravette or MacArthur, please contact us immediately. Our investment fraud lawyers have recovered millions of dollars from the largest banks, insurance companies and brokerage firms in the world on behalf of investment fraud victims. You may have certain legal rights that require your immediate attention. Time is of the essence in these claims. The sooner you act, the greater your chances of recovering your investment losses. Don't wait. Contact us TODAY for a FREE Consultation and case evaluation. We will tell you if you have a viable claim worth pursuing.