FINRA Arbitration filed against NEXT Financial to recover alternative investment losses

CHICAGO - Sept. 10, 2013 - PRLog -- The claim, filed against NEXT Financial, seeks recovery of investment losses of over $1100,000.00.

The claim filed by The White Law Group was filed on behalf of a retired California investor and alleges claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and negligent supervision. The claim specifically alleges that the investor was unsuitably invested in two alternative investments and that NEXT Financial only selected the investments because of the commissions generated as a result of the recommendations.  The claim further alleges that NEXT Financial failed to perform the proper due diligence on the investments prior to offering them for sale to their clients.

Broker-dealers have a fiduciary duty to perform adequate due diligence on any investment prior to recommending them for sale to their clients and to ensure that the investments it recommends are appropriate for the client in light of the clients age, investment experience, net worth, and investment objectives.

The claim specifically involves the following high-risk alternative investments:

Provident Royalties Shale 17
Behringer Harvard REIT 1

In 2009, less than a year after Respondent recommended that Claimant invest in Provident, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Provident and its three principals, accusing them of raising $485 million in an alleged Ponzi scheme.  The SEC complaint alleged that from at least September 2006 through January 2009 Provident used less than half of the funds raised for the stated purpose of purchasing interests in oil and gas real estate, leases and mineral rights.  Instead, the SEC alleged, that early investors, who were told 86 percent of funds would be invested, were paid returns with funds from later participants.

Several Provident executives have since pled guilty to conspiring to defraud investors and are now serving time in prison.

For more information on the claim filed by The White Law Group, please contact the firm's Chicago office at 312-238-9650.

The White Law Group is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, and investor protection law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group and its representation of investors in FINRA arbitration claims, visit http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.