Securities Fraud Lawyer Blog
On February 1, 2015 Douglas “Dutch” Melzer agreed to a permanent bar from the securities industry as a result of findings that he engaged in private securities transactions away from his brokerage firm, Wells Fargo Advisors
According to filings with FINRA Dutch Melzer introduced clients to a company called Aquatic Synthesis Unlimited, a company that his wife was affiliated with. Melzer received $27,000 as a result of these client transactions.
In August, 2013, after several spills the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection revoked Aquatic Synthesis Unlimted’s permit, and levied on the company’s $1 million bond to use for cleaning up the spill site. According to news reports, the site contains 1 million gallons of shale wastewater and tons of contaminated soil.
Dutch Melzer had been securities licensed since 2008 with Wells Fargo Advisors, and was briefly affiliated with Park Avenue Securities from 2013-2015.
Dutch Melzer’s registration and disciplinary history
Dutch Melzer was registered with the following firms
According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, Dutch Melzer has been the subject of three customer complaints and one regulatory investigations.
The Law Office of David Liebrader practices exclusively in the field of investment loss recovery and our securities attorneys have successfully resolved over 1000 investment loss cases over the past 20 years. Recoveries for clients top $40 million. The types of claims we have successfully handled include those involving unsuitable investments (suitability claims), excessive trading or “churning”, misrepresentations and omissions, unauthorized trading, over-concentration of illiquid or overly risky investments, pump and dump scams involving “penny stocks”, direct participation programs (private placements) involving real estate investment trusts (REITS), oil and gas exploration programs, leasing equipment deals and receivable financing, promissory notes whether sold through a broker dealer or as part of the outside business activities of a registered representative, ponzi scheme losses, failure on the part of the broker dealer to perform due diligence, state securities law (blue sky) violations and failure to supervise.
Investment losses can be recovered through a process known as FINRA arbitration. FINRA regulates broker dealers that sell investments, and provides an arbitration forum to resolve investor disputes. Investors can pursue claims against their brokerage firms in the FINRA arbitration forum. Common claims in the forum are those for suitability, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentations and omissions, negligence, violation of FINRA rules, state and federal securities laws violations, elder abuse, breach of contract and failure to supervise. On average, the recovery process takes approximately a year, from start to finish.
FINRA’s rules require that all investment recommendations made by licensed financial advisors be suitable in light of a customer’s needs, objectives and risk tolerance. In addition, all registered representatives are required to be properly supervised, with periodic inspections and reviews by qualified supervisors, whose job it is to vigorously investigate suspicions of wrongdoing (red flags).
If you have suffered investment losses please call The Law Office of David Liebrader at (702) 380-3131 for a free, confidential consultation