Investor Awarded $1.3 Million in Churning and Breach of Fiduciary Duty Case

A three-person Financial Industry Regulation Authority Inc. (FINRA) panel awarded Mississippi investor Tracy Noble Gilbert $1.29 million in compensatory damages and $250,000 in attorneys’ fees over the handling of her finances by a former broker for Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc.

Churning and breach of fiduciary duty

Gilbert accused her former father-in-law, Lanis Dale Noble, then with Stifel, of churning and breach of fiduciary duty, among other charges, in the case filed in August 2012.

The case involves buying on margin, and Nobel purchasing variable annuities from SunLife, ManuLife, and Friedman Billings Ramsey real estate investment trust. Buying on margin involves borrowing money from a broker to purchase securities.

Susan F. Drogin, arbitration panel chair, signed the decision March 31, 2015. The FINRA document says that Stifel denied the charges.

Unfavorable BrokerCheck report

BrokerCheck reports that Noble left Stifel in November 2013, when he was working for the firm in Ridgeland, Miss. He is no longer registered with FINRA. Nobel’s BrokerCheck report also cites five disclosures, including four customer disputes and one criminal case.

The team of investment fraud lawyers at Starr Austen & Miller LLP fights for the protection of investors and handles cases involving securities arbitration misrepresentation, overconcentration, broker fraud, negligence and breach of trust.

Source: Investment News