Stuart Dickinson - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Feb 8, 2017

WFG Investments Broker Barred For Recommending Investment in ATM Ponzi Scheme

Stuart Graham Dickinson, of Highland Park, Texas, was barred by the Department of Enforcement of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in a default decision made by FINRA’s Office of Hearing Officers for allegedly selling more than $1 million of limited partnership interests in a company supposedly acquiring and operating ATM machines which caused his investor customers to lose their entire investments. FINRA alleged that while associated with WFG Investments, Inc., Stuart Dickinson recommended and sold limited partnership interests in ATM Alliance, LP to seven customers without conducting proper and reasonable due diligence on the company. FINRA alleges further that Mr. Dickinson failed to detect numerous red flag warnings that ATM Alliance was a fraudulent Ponzi scheme. The seven investors Mr. Dickinson sold the ATM Alliance limited partnership interests to suffered a total loss of their investments. Mr. Dickinson was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity and required to pay $924,000 plus interest in restitution to customers.

Dec 9, 2015

WFG Investments Broker Named in FINRA Complaint About Fraudulent Private Placement Offering

Stuart G. Dickinson, a former registered representative with the Highland Park, Texas branch of WFG Investments, Inc. was named a respondent in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) complaint alleging that he failed to perform adequate due diligence in connection with a private placement securities offering that turned out to be a fraudulent investment. The complaint alleges that Mr. Dickinson, of Highland Park, Texas sold limited partnership interests in ATMA, LP (ATMA), a private placement securities offering involving the acquisition and operation of automated teller machines (ATMs) to seven customers of WFG Investments for $1,024,000. According to FINRA’s complaint, Mr. Dickinson failed to conduct adequate due diligence with respect to the securities investment, because the underlying business scheme of the offering was a fraud and most of the ATMs were fictional. FINRA’s complaint alleges that had Mr. Dickinson conducted proper due diligence of the offering, he would have found numerous red flags, such as stale and overstated performance history. As a result of the foregoing alleged events, Mr. Dickinson’s seven customers suffered a total loss of more than a million dollars.