According to a FINRA disciplinary action announcement, Gabriel Nelson Smith (CRD #2950071, Nashville, Tennessee) recently was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity and ordered to pay $200,000, plus interest, in restitution to a customer.

The sanctions were based on findings that Smith solicited a customer of his member firm to invest in a short-term municipal bond that he indicated would guarantee a 15 percent return. The findings stated that based on Smith’s representations, the customer gave Smith personal checks totaling $200,000, payable to Smith, and Smith negotiated and endorsed all but one of the checks. Smith gave the customer a personal check for $282,273.51, with the notation “payment for return of money,” and drawn on an account that Smith purportedly held at a bank. When the customer presented Smith’s check for payment, the bank dishonored the check with the notation “return reason – closed account.” Smith never invested the customer’s funds and has not returned any portion of the customer’s $200,000. The findings also stated that Smith failed to respond to FINRA requests for documents, information and testimony regarding the circumstances surrounding his dismissal from the firm.

For the full findings, see FINRA Case #2012034568401.

According to his FINRA Broker Report, Smith was registered with Northwestern Mutual Investment Services from April 1998 through February 2010 and MML Investors Services from March 2010 through October 2012.

The foregoing information, which is all publicly available on FINRA’s website, is being provided by The White Law Group.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Franklin, Tennessee.

For a free consultation with a securities attorney, call The White Law Group at 312/238-9650.  For more information on the firm, visit https://whitesecuritieslaw.com.