Robert Fehrman, a former MSC-BD broker, allegedly made unsuitable GPB Capital private placement recommendations. A widow was awarded $221,000 in compensatory damages, legal expenses, and other fees by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel against brokerage firm MSC-BD, LLC for losses she incurred in GPB private placements. GPB Capital Holdings was indicted for operating a Ponzi scheme and is accused of defrauding over 17,000 investors, including many seniors and retail customers.
The MSC-BD is a broker-dealer owned by Madison Street Capital, an Austin, Texas-based investment banking firm. Robert Malone Fehrman, the widower’s ex-broker, has departed the company.
GPB Capital Holdings investors have been receiving bad news for the past two years. Haselkorn & Thibaut filed a GPB Capital lawsuit and has filed many GPB Capital lawsuits (in FINRA arbitration claims) across the country to assist them in recovering their losses.
Investors are invited to call 1-800-856-3352 for their complimentary “GPB Capital Investors Guide.” This guide will help investors understand the investigation and recover investment losses.
GPB is still under investigation. Our investment fraud lawyers continue to monitor GPB investments and investigate any potentially fraudulent transactions. GPB Capital Holdings stated last summer that it will not provide Schedule Cs or other tax documents to investors. This follows the resignation of the CEO and an additional lawsuit brought by the former CEO. GPB’s Compliance Officer was also arrested for obstruction of justice. Coronavirus is causing the case to be delayed.
The Widow Was An Inexperienced Investor Who Put Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars In GPB Auto
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The claimant and her late husband put about $74,000 from a fixed annuity and an IRA into the GPB Automotive Portfolio, LP. Both were not accredited investors, which is required for anyone who wants to invest in alternative investments such as GPB private placements.
According to this senior investor, while Fehrman was her MSC-BD financial advisor, he urged her and her late husband to withdraw money from their fixed annuity twice to invest in the GPB Funds. However, it cost them a 10% surrender charge each time they withdrew.
In her FINRA arbitration claim, the widower claimed that the broker-dealer was negligent, fraudulent, violated contract, and other infractions. The FINRA arbitrators unanimously decided to award the widow $160,000 in compensatory damages, $53,000 in legal costs, and $8,000 in other related expenses.
Robert Malone Fehrman Accused in Other Customer Disputes
According to BrokerCheck, Robert Fehrman worked for 47 years in the industry until January 2022, when he departed MSC-BD. Of the 11 listed disclosures, four were related to client disputes. These are:
July 2021: An ongoing GPB private placement case, where the investor asks $115,000 in compensatory damages.
September 2020: This was the GPB investor claim filed by the widow. She was awarded more than $221,000 in damages.
September 2010: This plaintiff filed a failure to supervise a case involving Fehrman and an oil and gas partnership. The case was settled for $30,000.
December 1989: A failure to supervise lawsuit settled for around $338,000.
Other broker-dealers where Robert Fehrman used to be registered include:
- Richfield Orion International
- WFG Investments
- Pro-Integrity Securities
- Sunpoint Securities
- Charlotte S. Cohen & Co.
- Texas Capital Securities
- Advest, Inc.
- Westport Financial Group
- Prudential Bache-Securities
- Dean Witter Reynolds,
- Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith.
