A client of Truist Financial has won his arbitration case related to his investments with the Atlanta broker-dealer, according to Financial Advisor.
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel ordered Truist to pay over $2.7 million to Elton Simoes over its sale of Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) annuity products. Northstar, an insurance firm that went bankrupt, was linked to a Florida insurance mogul who pleaded guilty in 2024 to a $2 billion fraud and money laundering scheme.
Simoes filed a claim with the FINRA arbitrators accusing Truist (previously known as SunTrust) of multiple infractions related to his investments in Northstar, including breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, fraud and fraudulent inducement to hold investments.
He requested no less than $500,000 in actual damages “as well as damages for the loss of income that would have been received had [his] money been managed properly, as well as all other losses, foreseeable or not, that [he] suffered, including non-pecuniary losses including emotional distress damages; disgorgement and return of all fees, management charges, and commission; interest on [his] losses at the legal rate; costs, legal fees, and expenses; rescission and/or statutory damages [and] punitive damages.”
The arbitrators awarded Simoes $2,003,607 in compensatory damages, $701,000 in attorney’s fees, $47,213 in costs as well as part of the liquidation balance of Northstar accounts.
Financial Advisor reported that Simoes’s attorney did not return a call for comment, nor did Truist.
The plaintiff’s attorneys said several other broker-dealers also had representatives recommend Northstar Investments, including Raymond James, JPMorgan and Cetera.
The attorneys said that Northstar offered offshore annuity products at fixed and variable rates and were marketed as low-risk to conservative investors but that these didn’t offer the same protections as domestic companies, adding that clients were not informed of this by representatives.
Numerous other FINRA claims seeking between $125,000 and $1 million in damages are currently pending against Truist for similar Northstar investment losses.
The attorneys at Hyman Cotter have handled hundreds of arbitrations before FINRA, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, JAMS, the American Arbitration Association and other self-regulatory organizations nationwide. We have also appeared in courts throughout the United States in various securities-related matters. For more information about our arbitration and litigation services, please contact Hyman Cotter at (833) 665-0784 or through our online contact form.
