Investment fraud lawyers have filed another case against Kristian Finfrock, a Kalos Capital financial advisor to recover investment losses. He is accused of promoting/selling clients so-called alternative and risky investments, namely GPB Capital. According to FINRA complaint, Kristian Finfrock, a financial advisor broker with Kalos Capital since 2012, sold more than $750K of a retired and ill client’s life savings into illiquid and risky alternative investments, including $185K into GPB Capital.
Finfrock is registered as a representative of Kalos Capital, but worked under the company name of “Retirement Income Strategies.” ” In addition to GPB Capital, he sold many other alts and non-traded REITs, including HPI Real Estate Opportunities Fund, Shopoff Land Fund, Cottonwood Residential, AEI Capital Corporation, and ARC Trust.
What is GPB Capital?
GPB Capital is an alternative investment that often sold as a conservative income product to retail investors. However, it was a high-risk product that is a private placement product as a partnership that should have been sold only to accredited investors.
Accredited investors are people that have a net worth of over 1 million dollars and understand the market risks. Investment product sales to accredited investors do not have the same scrutiny as investment products to the general public.
Recent reports show over 60 independent broker-dealers sold it as private partnerships. Many investors are accusing the brokers of being motivated to sell the product because of the unusual high commission. Broker-dealers reportedly received commissions of over $100 million.
GPB Capital Investigations
GPB Capital is at the center of numerous other legal actions involving charges of fraud and operating an illegal Ponzi-like scheme. For nearly two years, GPB Capital has also allegedly been under official investigation by state and federal authorities (including FINRA and the SEC) for potential securities law violations or other improprieties. The FBI even made an unannounced search of the GPB Capital offices last February.
GPB Capital has started 2020 by hiring a new CEO of the Prime Automotive Group. Just last month, David Rosenburg filed a lawsuit to regain control of Prime Automotive (Part of GPB), claiming Kevin Westfall (now the former CEO) lacked moral character.
Most financial experts agree that it is inappropriate for retired or regular “retail” investors to invest a majority of their savings into alternative investments like GPB Capital or non-traded REITs. This because they are very opaque, high risk, and illiquid.
GPB Capital Lawsuits to Recover Losses
Investors have filed lawsuits to recover GPB Capital losses. Last November, a class-action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Texas, alleging that the founder of GPB Capital Holdings, David Gentile, created a series of companies to defraud investors.
Haselkorn & Thibaut P.A., a national securities fraud law firm, has filed numerous FINRA claims on behalf of GPB Capital investors against several broker-dealer firms and continues to investigate the sales practices and supervision procedures and practices at countless other investment firms that were selling GPB Capital funds to investors.
Jason Haselkorn, a Partner, said the following, “We are receiving many calls from worried investors, and we have dedicated a team investigating the GPB Capital investments. The current reports are very disturbing to investors, many of whom are deeply concerned that there may be more bad news.”
He continues, “Investors need to know there are options for them to recover their realized or unrealized investment losses, but time is running out for some investors depending on their dates of purchase and that may limit some of their potential recovery options.” Investors are encouraged to call 1-888-628-5590 or visit their website at www.InvestmentFraudLawyers.com for a free case evaluation.
