Financial Advisor Richard James Roberts Faces a FINRA Customer Dispute Involving DSTs

• June 9, 2026
• Uncategorized

Richard James Roberts (CRD#: 2145874) is a registered Broker at TCFG Wealth Management, LLC in Laguna Niguel, CA.

Broker’s Background

Richard James Roberts entered the securities industry in 2004 and previously worked at USA Advanced Planners Inc., Hartford Life Distributors, LLC and Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.

Current And Past Allegations Of Conduct Leading To Investment Loss

According to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), in March 2026, Richard James Roberts became the subject of a customer dispute alleging, “at an unspecified time after September 2022, a former registered representative of the Firm recommended overconcentrated positions in unsuitable Delaware Statutory Trusts (“DSTs”), which were designed to (and did) provided tax benefits in the form of delayed or avoided capital gains taxes following Claimant’s recent sale of real estate property. As to the registered representative and/or the Firm, Claimant asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, negligent supervision, fraud, breach of contract, violation of the Securities Exchange Act, and violation of the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act. As to Mr. Roberts, Claimant asserts only a single claim for liability under the Securities Exchange Act, based solely on conclusory allegations of status as a “control person” of the Firm”.

 

In addition, Richard James Roberts has been the subject of another customer dispute, including the following:

• September 2021 – “The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), for its complaint against Richard James Roberts, TCFG Investment Advisors, LLC, And TCFG Wealth Management, LLC, alleges that this civil enforcement action involves fraudulent misconduct and breach of fiduciary duty by defendant Richard James Roberts and his investment advisory firm, defendant TCFG Investment Advisor, LLC (“TCFG”). Roberts used his broker dealer firm, defendant TCFG Wealth Management, LLC (“TCFG Wealth Management”), to aid and abet this misconduct. Between in or about January 2014 and in or about April 2020, Roberts and TCFG made materially false and misleading statements to TCFG’s advisory clients (“TCFG clients”). The defendants defrauded the TCFG clients by falsely disclosing that TCFG Wealth Management “may” receive portions of the fees charged to TCFG accounts by its third party clearing and custody firm (“Clearing Broker”) when, in fact, Roberts had directed Clearing Broker to charge TCFG clients an additional fee markup that was paid to TCFG Wealth Management. Roberts and TCFG further knew, or were reckless and negligent for not knowing, that the marked up portion of the fee was passed on to TCFG’s clients approximately 60 percent of the time. Roberts and TCFG made other materially false and misleading statements to TCFG’s clients regarding the fee markups and failed to disclose adequately the conflicts of interest they created for defendants. Roberts used his positions as the chief operating officer, president, managing member and, at times, chief compliance officer of TCFG Wealth Management to substantially assist and further this fraudulent conduct and the violations of the fiduciary duties he and TCFG owed to TCFG’s clients. Furthermore, as the chief compliance officer of TCFG, Roberts aided and abetted TCFG’s failure to implement the written policies and procedures that were reasonably designed to prevent the sorts of disclosure and conflict of interest violations that arose from TCFG Wealth Management charging and receiving these fee markups from TCFG clients. By engaging the conduct described in this Complaint, Defendant Roberts violated Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Advisers Act and aided and abetted TCFG’s violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act and Rule 206(4)-7 thereunder.” A judgment was rendered in the amount of $287,752.97.

 

 

For a copy of Richard James Roberts’s FINRA BrokerCheck, click here.

What Is a Delaware Statutory Trust?

A DST is a legally recognized trust that is created for a specific business purpose. Traditionally, DSTs are utilized to provide a governing agreement by which real estate can be purchased, held, managed and administered among a pool of investors who own participation interests in the DST. The DST allows an investor the opportunity to own an interest in the underlying real estate without the responsibility of managing the property. A trustee is appointed to manage the property on behalf of the investor pool. DST investments are commonly used as a mechanism through which real estate owners can facilitate a 1031 exchange, which refers to a section of the Internal Revenue Code that allows a seller of real estate to defer paying capital gains taxes if the sale proceeds are reinvested in qualified real estate within a designated period of time.

Delaware Statutory Trust Risks To Be Aware Of

DSTs and other private placements have increased in popularity over the years as investment professionals attempt to capitalize on volatility experienced among publicly traded securities. Private placements, such as DSTs, are often marketed and sold as safe and tax-efficient income producing vehicles that are not subject to the same market forces as publicly traded securities.

While there is some level of truth to that statement, the reality is that private placements are speculative and do not have the same reporting requirements as publicly traded securities. This means that DSTs can often mask financial difficulties until it is too late. Moreover, because DSTs are illiquid, investors are often unable to sell their interests to third-parties before experiencing an investment loss.

In recent years, there has already been a great deal of stress in the DST market due to rising interest rates, rising operating costs and banks exercising the right to generate “cash sweeps,” which occurs when the lender uses the cash flow generated from the DST to cover and/or reduce the costs associated with a loan. This most commonly occurs when a tenant’s credit drops, occupancy of the property declines or other risk factors come to fruition that compromise the lender’s security in the underlying property. This has had a devastating impact on investors.

As is often the case with DSTs, individual investors do not have control of individual decisions made by the DST structure and, accordingly, rely on their financial professionals to recommend DSTs with seasoned, professional managers and creditworthy tenants that have undergone an extensive due diligence process.

We Help Investors Recover Investment Losses

Financial advisors have a legal and regulatory obligation to recommend only suitable investments that are appropriate for their clients’ needs and objectives. Their employing brokerage firm has a legal and regulatory obligation to supervise the Financial Advisors’ sales practices and dealings with clients. To the extent any of these duties are breached, the customer may be entitled to a recovery of his or her investment losses.

Quantitative suitability requires a brokerage firm or financial advisor with actual or de facto control over a customer’s account to have a reasonable basis for believing that a series of recommended transactions – even if suitable when viewed in isolation – is not excessive and unsuitable for the customer when taken together in light of the customer’s investment profile. No single test defines excessive activity, but factors such as the turnover rate, the cost-equity ratio, and the use of in-and-out trading in a customer’s account may provide a basis for a finding that a member or associated person has violated the quantitative suitability obligation. Financial advisors have a legal and regulatory obligation to recommend only suitable investments that are appropriate for their clients’ needs and objectives. Their employing brokerage firm has a legal and regulatory obligation to supervise the Financial Advisors’ sales practices and dealings with clients.

Financial advisors have a legal and regulatory obligation to recommend only suitable investments that are appropriate for their clients’ needs and objectives. Their employing brokerage firm has a legal and regulatory obligation to supervise the financial advisors’ sales practices and dealings with clients.

The Wolper Law Firm represents investors nationwide in securities litigation and arbitration on a contingency fee basis.  Matt Wolper, the Managing Principal of the Wolper Law Firm, is a trial lawyer who has handled hundreds of securities cases during his career involving a wide range of products, strategies and securities. Prior to representing investors, he was a partner with a national law firm, where he represented some of the largest banks and brokerage firms in the world in securities matters. We can be reached at (800) 931-8452 or by email at mwolper@wolperlawfirm.com.