Finra Bans Turner for Misrepresentation
Winston Wade Turner was banned by Finra for making unsuitable variable annuity recommendations while working for MetLife and Prudential Financial. It was revealed that Turner deceived his clients by neglecting specific material facts about their current variable annuities. In some cases, Turner suggested to his clients they sell their other investments in order to fund the purchase of variable annuities he recommended.
It is a known fact that exchanging any annuity should be highly monitored, due to their relatively high commissions. In August of 2015, Turner was terminated by Prudential for his deceptive sales practices. In the July 8 Finra document they stated, “Turner’s unethical and dishonest actions and his willingness to take unfair advantage of customers who placed their trust in him, demonstrate that he is unfit to remain in the securities industry.”
How the Misrepresentation Occurred
In November 2012, Turner duped a client into transferring $108,000 of retirement assets into a MetLife variable annuity by promising them a 4.5% yearly increase, when in fact, there was no annual return at all. Turner then went on to schedule monthly withdrawals at 4.5% rate, deceiving his client into thinking they were receiving a return, when in fact, they were only diminishing the value of their account.
An additional misrepresentation occurred in December 2013, when he convinced another client to purchase a Prudential annuity with a false claim of a “guaranteed annual rate”. He then went on to withdraw funds from his clients account to the tune of more than $27,000.
Turner began in the securities industry in 2011, where he joined MetLife. Then in July 2013, he moved on to Prudential, according to Finra’s BrokerCheck.
Starr Austen Fights Against Misrepresentation
Let Starr Austen help you from people like Winston Wade Turner. Annuities are some of the highest commission products a broker can sell. Most are very difficult to liquidate and because of this may be unsuitable for elderly clients. Our team of investment fraud lawyers have experience in representing clients who have purchased unsuitable annuities and will fight for the protection of investors and handle cases involving unsuitability, securities arbitration misrepresentation, overconcentration, broker fraud, negligence and breach of trust.