Thomas Charbonneau of Feltl & Company
Have you lost money with financial advisor Thomas Charbonneau from Lilydale, Minnesota? Thomas Charbonneau was barred by FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) in 2014 in connection with a pump-and-dump scheme and for allowing a customer to sign blank forms. In February 2017, FINRA also alleged that Feltl & Company failed to supervise Charbonneau.
FINRA previously alleged that Charbonneau was recommending that his customers purchase shares of Spectrascience, Inc. (symbol SCIE). Shortly after he made these recommendations, Charbonneau was alleged to have sold 1.7 million shares of Spectrascience that he owned. This is a classic example of a pump-and-dump scheme – where an advisor gets his clients to invest in a thinly traded stock in order to increase the market price, and then the advisor sells his own shares, making a profit and leaving the other investors with losses after the advisor’s stock sales drive the price back down. Charbonneau’s broker-dealer firm, Feltl & Company, allowed Charbonneau to resign in October 2010 after this conduct was discovered.
FINRA brought a new complaint against Feltl & Company recently, alleging that Feltl failed to adequately supervise Thomas Charbonneau. FINRA alleged that Feltl knew that Charbonneau was selling over 900,000 shares of a company that he personally owned, while at the same time recommending that his firm customers invest in the same company. To settle these allegations, Feltl was required to pay a fine of $150,000.
Charbonneau was a financial advisor and registered representative with Feltl & Company from March 2005 to October 2010. He was also registered with Berthel Fisher & Company Financial Services from November 2010 to November 2013. Charbonneau filed for personal bankruptcy in December 2011.
Broker-dealers like Feltl & Company and Berthel Fisher & Company have a duty to supervise the conduct of their financial advisors. Broker-dealers must also ensure that their advisors follow all securities rules and regulations, such as refraining from fraudulent schemes like the pump-and-dump scheme. If a broker-dealer like Feltl & Company or Berthel Fisher & Company fails to adequately supervise their advisors and representatives, the broker-dealer may have liability for customer losses.
Israels & Neuman are securities fraud attorneys that represent investors all over the country, including investors from Minnesota and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Our attorneys have represented investors in Minnesota in the past, including several victims of the Levi Lindemann scheme.
Click to view: Feltl & Company FINRA AWC
Click to view: Charbonneau FINRA AWC
Click to view: Charbonneau BrokerCheck 10.13.14
IF YOU HAVE LOST MONEY THROUGH THOMAS CHARBONNEAU OR FELTL & COMPANY AND WANT TO HEAR ABOUT ALL LEGAL OPTIONS, PLEASE VISIT HTTP://WWW.ISRAELSNEUMAN.COM OR CALL US AT (720) 599-3505.
Israels & Neuman, PLC is a private law firm and is not affiliated with any government or law enforcement agency. Any investigation referenced in this blog is independent in nature and is being conducted by our law firm privately, not in conjunction with any government or law enforcement agency. All information contained in this blog should be deemed statements of opinion derived from the author’s review of public records, not statements of fact. This blog is advertising material and does not create an attorney client relationship, nor does it constitute legal advice. Everyone’s situation is different and the question of whether or not you have a claim will vary on a case-by-case basis. In contingent representation, clients may still be liable for costs.