Securities Fraud Lawyer Blog
FINRA charges VFG Securities and Jason VanClef in Department of Enforcement complaint
In a complaint filed by the FINRA Department of Enforcement on February 9, 2016 VFG Securities of Culver City, CA and its principal owner Jason VanClef were charged with providing customers with misleading sales literature, including spreadsheets that contained false, exaggerated, unwarranted or misleading statements. The FINRA complaint can be viewed here.
FINRA charged VFG and Jason VanClef with using a book VanClef wrote and published himself, called The Wealth Code; How the Rich Stay Rich in Good Times and Bad as a means to generate sales of direct participation programs and non-traded REITs. According to the complaint VanClef used the book to bolster his sales presentations, which claimed that non traded REITs and DPPs provided safety and high returns, claims that FINRA alleges were misleading, and contradicted by the language in the prospectuses for the investments. Approximately 95% of VFG’s revenue came from the sale of DPPs and non-traded REITs.
FINRA alleges that VFG and VanClef violated FINRA rules, and seeks monetary penalties and remedial action by the firm.
The claim filed by FINRA is not final, and until the allegations have been proven in a court of law, no adverse inferences should be drawn.
VFG Securities registration and disciplinary history
In order to lawfully sell investments to the public, one must either be registered or exempt from registration. VFG Securities is a New York corporation, formed in 1984, and it is registered with the FINRA, the SEC and in 33 states and territories.
According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, VFG Securities has been the subject of two regulatory investigations.
Jason VanClef, the CEO of VFG has been with the firm since 2009 and in nine years in the securities industry he has been the subject of six customer disputes and one pending regulatory investigation.
Van Clef’s CRD from broker check can be viewed here.
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.