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Our law firm is investigating potential claims on behalf of investors of Richard A. Finger. According to news reports, Finger allegedly defrauded more than 10 clients of millions of dollars. In September of 2011, he was charged in U.S. District Court with wire fraud.
Finger also faces civil charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC alleged that Finger lost millions of dollars for customers in a matter of months through risky, options trading and excessive commissions. According to the criminal complaint, some of the clients invested with Finger while he worked for a Seattle brokerage firm, First Washington Corp. This includes one client who invested almost $700,000 with Finger. From the late 2009 through 2010, Finger allegedly assured the client that his investment was growing when in reality it was sustaining substantial losses. When Finger later moved from First Washington to his own firm in February 2011, Finger allegedly showed the client fabricated statements that indicated that the account was worth $1.2 million when it was really worth only $5,500, according to the complaint. Finger also allegedly took significant commissions from the 10 accounts at issue, and utilized them for his own benefit.
Another client of invested $1 million and was sent statements by email, until August of 2011, at which time Finger allegedly admitted it had lost over $800,000. The complaint goes on to allege that Finger transferred thousands of dollars from client accounts to his personal checking account to pay for food and entertainment, credit card bills, and business expenses.
Finger was registered with First Washington, a FINRA registered broker dealer, from March 2008 through February 2011. Under FINRA Rules, First Washington was obligated to properly supervise the practices and activities of Finger during the time that he was registered with the firms. Accordingly, First Washington may be liable for failing to supervise Finger’s activities during his tenure at the firm. If you sustained losses by investing with Richard A. Finger, please contact our law firm to discuss the potential of filing and individual securities arbitration claim or lawsuit. A securities arbitration claim against First Washington may help you recover some of your losses.