- June 28, 2018
- Sandlapper Securities
The Wolper Law Firm, P.A. is currently investigating claims against Trevor Gordon and Jack Bixler, senior executives at Sandlapper Securities in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Trevor Gordon first entered the securities industry in 1997 and previously worked for Raymond James, NFP Securities and Steven Falk & Associates. Jack Bixler entered the securities industry in the 1960s and has worked for a number of brokerage firms.
According to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), on September 29, 2017, Trevor Gordon and Jack Bixler were named in a FINRA complaint alleging:
“that he, with his member firm and a firm principal, participated in a fraudulent scheme and defrauded investors by selling investments in saltwater disposal wells at excessive, undisclosed markups through a middleman “development” company they owned and controlled. The complaint alleges that the fraudulent markups totaled over $8 million. The complaint also alleges that as a manager of the fund, Gordon owed fiduciary duties to the fund. Gordon violated his fiduciary duties by causing the development company to usurp the fund’s investment opportunities and resell those investments to the fund at excessive prices, and by failing to take steps to ensure fair pricing to the fund, Gordon used the development company to extract ill-gotten profits from retail investors who purchased interests in individual saltwater disposal wells outside the fund. The development company purchased these interests and resold them to retail investors, sometimes through the firm, at undisclosed, excessive markups. Investors were not informed, in the private placement memorandum or otherwise, that the fund would pay or had paid excessive markups for its purchases of interests in saltwater disposal wells from the development company. As a result, Gordon willfully violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Rule 10b-5(a)-(c) thereunder, and FINRA Rules 2010 and 2020.”
A full copy of the Complaint can be accessed below:
Brokerage firms are required by regulation to supervise the Financial Advisors they employ. The failure of a brokerage firm to properly supervise its Financial Advisors imposes liability on the brokerage firm for investment losses caused by the Financial Advisor’s misconduct. In this instance, the alleged misconduct is said to have occurred as a direct and proximate result of actions or inactions by the top executives at Sandlapper Securities.
On June 24, 2018, Sandlapper Securities was featured in a Wall Street Journal article for, in part, their hiring and retention of Financial Advisors with histories of regulatory infractions and customer complaints.
If you or someone you know was a customer of Sandlapper Securities, or were otherwise recommended by Sandlapper Securities to purchase saltwater disposal wells, and you experienced investment losses, please contact the Wolper Law Firm, P.A. at 800.931.8452 or by email at mwolper@wolperlawfirm.com to discuss your specific situation and the legal options available. The Wolper Law Firm, P.A. represents investors nationwide in securities litigation and arbitration.
Attorney Matthew Wolper
Matt Wolper is a trial lawyer who focuses exclusively on securities litigation and arbitration. Mr. Wolper has handled hundreds of securities matters nationwide before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), JAMS, and in state and federal court. Mr. Wolper has handled and tried cases involving complex financial products and strategies ranging from traditional stocks and bonds to options, margin and other securities-based lending products, closed/open-end mutual funds, structured products, hedge funds, and penny stocks. [Attorney Bio]