Securities Fraud Attorney Blog
RIK filed a FINRA arbitration against TD Ameritrade last week on behalf of a New Jersey family. A former TD Ameritrade broker named Ralph Wood, Jr., acted as an unregistered advisor to numerous customer accounts in the Short Hills, New Jersey branch (including our client’s), and lost tens of millions of dollars trading the SVXY for various clients of the firm. It is believed former TD broker Rushi Patel introduced Wood to the customers and knew that the accounts were being traded by Wood, an unregistered, unapproved third party advisor. If you invested with TD Ameritrade through Ralph Wood, Jr. or Rushi Patel, please contact us as we are actively investigating this improper activity.
Allowing an unregistered advisor to trade customer accounts without express written authority and oversight is a violation of FINRA Rules, including rules concerning account documentation and supervision. Investors who lost money with Wood in this strategy may have claims against TD Ameritrade for their losses.