Were you the victim of barred financial advisor Phillip Johnson (CRD# 501352)? Johnson was registered with D.H. Hill Securities, Lllp in Kingwood, Texas from April 2016 to December 2017 and with Suntrust Investment Services, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee from 2003 to 2015, when he was terminated regarding, “entered into a loan agreement with existing client without authorization or approval.”
In June 2018, FINRA barred Johnson after he failed to respond to FINRA request for information.
In February 2018, FINRA suspended Johnson for three months and sanctioned Johnson and ordered him to pay $5,000 in civil and administrative penalties and fines. According to his BrokerCheck, “Without admitting or denying the findings, Johnson consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he borrowed $528,000 from a customer but failed to notify or obtain written approval of the loan in advance from his member firm. The findings stated that Johnson made an inaccurate statement on his firm compliance questionnaires related to borrowing from a firm customer. The firm did not permit loans between registered persons and customers who were not close family members. Johnson and the customer are not family members.”
In October 2015, FINRA suspended Johnson for three months and sanctioned Johnson and ordered him to pay $5,000 in civil and administrative penalties and fines. According to his BrokerCheck, “Without admitting or denying the findings, Johnson consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he borrowed $322,000 from a customer of his member firm, but failed to notify or obtain written approval of the loan in advance from the firm. The findings stated that Johnson made an inaccurate statement on his firm’s annual compliance questionnaires related to his borrowing from a firm customer.”
Johnson has been the subject of two customer complaints between 2009 and 2017, according to his CRD report. The most recent complaint is regarding:
March 2017. “The client’s attorney alleges the former representative induced her on 8/12/10 to liquidate a $540,000 variable annuity bought elsewhere and invest $258,000 proceeds into investment real estate with Mr. Johnson. He also arranged a personal loan with the client to purchase the real estate.” The customer sought $600,000 in damages and the case was settled for $525,000. This case was regarding a variable annuity.
Pursuant to FINRA Rules, member firms are responsible for supervising a broker’s activities during the time the broker is registered with the firm. Therefore, D.H. Hill Securities, Lllp and Suntrust Investment Services, Inc. may be liable for investment or other losses suffered by Johnson’s customers.
Erez Law represents investors in the United States for claims against brokers and brokerage firms for wrongdoing. If and have experienced investment losses, please call us at 888-840-1571 or complete our contact form for a free consultation. Erez Law is a nationally recognized law firm representing individuals, trusts, corporations and institutions in claims against brokerage firms, banks and insurance companies on a contingency fee basis.
"*" indicates required fields
