• November 20, 2020
• Trustmont Financial Group

Peter Kohli (CRD # 1064334) was a Financial Advisor at Trustmont Financial Group in Leesport, PA. Peter Kohli has been in the securities industry since 1982 and previously worked at Equitas America, LLC, ING Financial Partners, Inc., and MML Investors Services, Inc.

According to publicly available records released by the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), in March 2018, the SEC sanctioned Peter Kohli, barring him from acting as a broker or associating with a broker-dealer.

The SEC’s civil suit against Peter Kohli alleged the following: “SEC Litigation Release No. 23659, September 28, 2016: The SEC announced charges and an emergency asset freeze against a former stockbroker for defrauding investors in his failing mutual fund business. The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, alleges that, from 2012 through 2015, Peter R. Kohli, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, fraudulently raised more than $3.2 million from at least 120 investors. The complaint alleges that, among other things, Kohli filed false mutual fund registration statements with the SEC, misappropriated investor funds, and made false and misleading statements when selling securities in a company controlled by Kohli. At the time of his misconduct, Kohli was a registered representative and investment adviser representative associated with a dually-registered broker-dealer and investment adviser. According to the SEC’s complaint, in 2012, Kohli launched a fund (the “Fund”), which ultimately consisted of four emerging market mutual fund series. An advisory firm (the “Firm”) was the Funds’ investment adviser, and a separate Kohli-controlled company (the “Company”) owned the Firm. The complaint alleges that Kohli filed registration statements with the SEC that falsely overstated the Funds’ sophistication and ignored the key risk that the Firm and Kohli would be unable to pay the funds’ expenses, sold the Company warrants, falsely telling investors that the Company had taken steps toward an initial public offering, stole money meant to be invested in the mutual funds, and used it instead to pay fund expenses and, as the funds neared collapse, lied to investors and sold the Company promissory notes with no reasonable expectation that the purchasers could be repaid. The SEC’s complaint charges Kohli with violations of Sections 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, Sections 206(1), 206(2), 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder, and Section 34(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.”

In April 2015, Peter Kohli was permitted to resign from Trustmont Financial Group, Inc. for “VIOLATION OF WRITTEN SUPERVISORY PROCEDURES IN ACCEPTING A LOAN FROM A CLIENT.”
In addition, according to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Peter Kohli has been the subject of eight customer complaint disclosures alleging sales practice misconduct throughout his career:

• July 2020—”Failure to supervise, failure to monitor the representative, failure to conduct reasonable due diligence.” Alleged damages are $40,803.16 and the matter remains pending.
• July 2020—”Failure to supervise, failure to monitor the representative.” Alleged damages are $373,023.00 and the matter remains pending.
• March 2020—”The complaint alleges the representative sold promissory notes.” Alleged damages are $70,000.00 and the matter remains pending.
• March 2020—”The compliant alleges the representative sold promissory notes, fraudulent mutual funds and a variable annuity.” Alleged damages are $130,566.62 and the matter remains pending.
• December 2019—”Failure to supervise, failure to monitor the representative.” Alleged damages are $254,807.00 and the matter remains pending.
• November 2018—”Claimant alleges he was recommended to invest in promissory notes 06/14/2012, 08/23/2012, 05/23/2013.” The matter settled for $75,000.00.
• June 2017—”REPRESENTATIVE ALLEGEDLY SOLD FRAUDULENT PROMISSORY NOTES TO INVESTORS IN ORDER TO SUPPORT HIS FAILING MUTUAL FUND BUSINESS.” The matter settled for $375,000.00.
• October 2014—”Whenever Mr. Peter Kohli did bulk trading on The Pacific Life Accounts, Mr. Kohli would send an Excel spreadsheet of the clients involved. Inadvertently, Mr. Kohli included [customer’s] name on the list.” The matter settled for $9,240.03.

For a copy of Peter Kohli’s CRD, click here

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.

The Wolper Law Firm, P.A. represents investors nationwide in securities litigation and arbitration on a contingency fee basis. Matt Wolper, the Managing Principal of the Wolper Law Firm, P.A., 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.