California Broker Receives Industry Bar Concerning Alleged Fraudulent Investment Recommendations
On August 28, 2020, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) disclosed that former registered representative Narinder Kaur Singh, a/k/a Narinder Dutt (CRD# 3100308), was permanently barred. As set forth in a signed Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) in connection with FINRA Enforcement’s investigation—in which Ms. Singh neither admitted nor denied FINRA’s findings of fact—Ms. Singh consented to an industry bar concerning allegations of purported fraudulent investments by certain of her customers into a company that she controlled.
FINRA’s investigation was triggered around October 2019 when Ms. Singh’s former employer filed an amended Form U5 after one of Ms. Singh’s customers initiated a dispute with FINRA. Specifically, the U5 disclosure referenced a “pending arbitration filed by the customer alleging that Singh had invested the customer funds into a fraudulent investment.” While Ms. Singh initially cooperated with the FINRA investigation, she reportedly “ultimately ceased doing so” by not providing on-the-record (OTR) testimony as requested by FINRA in August 2020. Accordingly, Ms. Singh’s refusal to provide OTR testimony resulted in a violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010, and she was subsequently sanctioned for these regulatory violations.
Ms. Singh was first registered with FINRA in 1998 as an Investment Company and Variable Contracts Products Representative and has been affiliated with multiple FINRA member broker-dealers. Most recently, from 2018-2019, she worked as a registered representative of Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC in Sacramento, California. Prior to this, she was affiliated with Proequities, Inc. from 2016 to 2017 and Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc. from 2014 to 2016, both in Elk Grove, California. According to the AWC, Farmers “terminated Singh’s registration by a Form U5 filed on November 6, 2019.”
According to FINRA BrokerCheck, Ms. Singh has been subject to five customer complaints, of which one dispute resulted in an award of $412,500, three disputes settled, and one dispute remains pending as of this writing. These disputes concern allegations that Ms. Singh purportedly induced some of her customers into investing into a company she controlled: Express Asset and Wealth Management, Inc. In one matter, Ms. Singh allegedly solicited a customer into investing in an investment contract that supposedly “guaranteed him 5% interest for 6 months.”
In instances where a stockbroker sells or solicits the sale of investments not held or offered by the brokerage firm, then that representative has engaged in the impermissible practice of “selling away” from the firm’s list of approved financial products. Selling away is dangerous for customers because the investments being offered may not have been subject to proper due diligence, and even more troubling, the investments may be potentially fraudulent. Should a broker wish to consummate a private securities transaction, then he or she must first provide prior written notice to the firm regarding the contemplated transaction, which can only occur upon the firm’s approval.
If the transaction proceeds without notice to the firm or in derogation of the firm’s orders, then FINRA Rule 3280 has been violated. Brokerage firms have a duty to ensure that their registered representatives are adequately supervised, and if a broker is selling away investment products then the firm may also be held liable for investor losses due to the brokerage firm’s failure to adequately supervise its broker.
The attorneys at Giarrusso Law Group LLC have significant experience working with investors to resolve all manner of issues concerning investment losses, including losses suffered due to misconduct or negligence by a broker or a FINRA member firm. Investors may pursue a claim to recover monies through securities arbitration before FINRA, or in some instances, through litigation. Investors who wish to discuss a possible claim are invited to contact us by telephone at (201) 771-1115 or by email at info@gialawgroup.com for a no-cost and confidential consultation.