Securities Fraud Lawyer Blog
Michael Hajek suspended by FINRA
In March, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that Michael Hajek of Treasure Island, FL, formerly with Cetera Financial of St. Petersburgh, FL was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for eighteen months and fined $35,000. The suspension and fine arise out of FINRA’s investigation into Hajek’s outside business activities, specifically his role in assisting clients in opening self-directed IRAs to purchase promissory notes and membership interests in private securities transactions. Hajek’s involvement lead directly to over two million dollars in purchases. According to the findings, after learning of Hajek’s outside business activities, Cetera asked Hajek to stop, but he failed to do so, and failed to disclose his participation and activities related to the outside IRA transactions.
Registration and disciplinary history
In order to lawfully sell investments to the public, a registered rep must either be registered or exempt from registration. Michael Hajek was registered with:
06/2013 – 02/2014
According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, Michael Hajek has been the subject of one regulatory investigation.
The Law Office of David Liebrader practices exclusively in the field of investment loss recovery. For the past 23 years, we have dedicated our law practice to assisting investors who have been victims of investment fraud via fraudulent and unsuitable investment transactions. During that time we have recovered money for over one thousand individuals, pension plans, trusts and companies. The recoveries we have obtained via judgments, awards and settlements on behalf of our clients exceed $40,000,000.
When investors contact our firm they can expect prompt attention, and a detailed analysis of their issues. Typical claims that we are asked to review involve “unsuitability (where a financial advisor makes investment recommendations that are inconsistent with a customer’s investment objectives), claims for “churning” (where a broker enters into an excessive number of trades for the purpose of generating commissions), claims involving illiquid investments such as private placements (I.e., real estate investment trusts, limited partnerships, equipment leasing and oil and gas drilling programs) as well as claims for violations of state securities laws, which often provide investors remedies like attorney’s fees and interest, if they are successful on the claim.
If you suspect that you have been the victim of investment fraud, or had a financial advisor recommend unsuitable investments to you, call us today for a free, confidential consultation at (702) 380-3131.