Cesar Hurtado is a broker registered with Oppenheimer & Co. from January 2003 onwards. He has recently made disclosures pertaining to two customer disputes, as well as his suspension. The information is public and available on his Broker record.
Disclosures made by Hurtado relate to settlements with customers of Oppenheimer, in response to allegations made by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the licensing and regulating authority for brokerage firms and stockbrokers. Per FINRA regulations, customer complaints, disputes, and regulatory sanctions need to be reported to them, in addition to personal bankruptcies, judgments and liens, and other matters of a personal financial nature.
In FINRA case no. 19-02292- 7/2020, allegations against Hurtado were that he misrepresented investments in the customer account, was negligent, and violated his fiduciary duty. The period to which the case pertains is November 2013 onwards. The case was settled for $275,000 of which Hurtado paid exactly half.
FINRA case no. 17-2580-11/2018 brought allegations of negligence, fiduciary duty breach as well as fraud against Hurtado. The period of the offense is from 2003 to 2017. A settlement was reached based on which the customer was compensated $285,000. Hurtado paid $142,500 of the settlement personally.
FINRA accused Hurtado of recommending and effecting an unsuitable strategy of put spread investments in two customer accounts. His recommendations:
- Caused the customers to forego the risk mitigation mechanism that exists in a put spread
- Exposed the customers to margin calls by increasing their risk exposure
- This resulted in a net loss of $1.6M aggregated for the two customers
A 45-day suspension and a $5,000 fine were agreed upon by Hurtado in August 2021. As per agreement terms, the suspension would begin on 7th September.
Worried about your investment losses?
It is possible that similar recommendations have been made to other customers that have not come to light yet. If you have had dealings with Hurtado, or otherwise have reason to suspect that you have lost money on account of receiving unsuitable recommendations from your broker, you need to act now.
Haselkorn & Thibaut, P.A., which has offices in Florida, New York, Texas, North Carolina, and Arizona represents investors across the nation in their effort to recover investment losses suffered owing to negligent or fraudulent actions of their brokers and/ or their broker-dealers.
If you have questions about how your account has been handled, call us for a free consultation to know more about your options. Most cases are handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless the case is successful. Call now 1 888-628-5590
