Recovery of Investment Losses with Dawn Bennett

Have you suffered losses investing with former financial advisor Dawn Bennett? If so, The White Law Group may be able to help you recover your losses through FINRA arbitration.

According to reports, Dawn Bennett, a former advisor of The Bennett Group has lost a $1 million FINRA arbitration claim for making unsuitable investment recommendations for one of her clients.

The plaintiff, Steven Santagati, will reportedly receive $746,000 as part of the award.  Bennett allegedly recommended that Santagati invest in a gold exchange traded fund.

Western International Securities Inc. and her firm, Bennett Group Financial Services were also named in the suit. The claim was filed in 2014 in the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.’s Office of Dispute Resolution.

According to the arbitration award, Santagati also alleged breach of fiduciary duty, failure to supervise and negligence in his claim. The causes of action purportedly related to Mr. Santagati’s investment in the SPDR Gold Shares exchange traded fund, according to the award.

The award said the respondents are “jointly and severally liable for violations of including, but not limited to, recommending unsuitable investments and failure to supervise.” In addition to Mr. Santagati’s award, they were apparently also ordered to pay $252,000 in attorney fees and $27,000 in expert witness fees.

Bennett was barred from the securities industry in 2016 due to material misrepresentations about the amount of assets managed by her financial advice firm. In November FINRA filed a complaint against Ms. Bennett for failing to testify in its investigation of possible fraud tied to her clothing company.

Proper Supervision of Advisors

Brokerage firms are required to properly supervise all advisors they employ and to ensure that those advisors are complying with applicable FINRA rules and regulations.  If these allegations can be proven and if it can be demonstrated that Bennett’s former employer failed to properly supervise her, her employer may be held responsible for the losses in a FINRA arbitration claim.

According to her FINRA BrokerCheck, Dawn Bennett has six other pending arbitration claims against her. She was registered with WESTERN INTERNATIONAL SECURITIES, INC from October 2009 through December 2015 and with Royal Alliance from February 2006 through October 2009.

If you suffered losses investing with Dawn Bennett and would like a free consultation to discuss your litigation options, please call The White Law Group at 1-888-637-5510.

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 more information on the firm and its representation of investors, visit https://whitesecuritieslaw.com.

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