CFP Board revokes 7 designations in latest round of sanctions

Unauthorized trading, unsuitable advice and racial epithets were some of the misdeeds that resulted in financial advisers having their certified financial planner credentials revoked.   

The CFP Board announced public sanctions on 33 individuals on Tuesday, including seven who have lost the right to use the CFP designation. The CFP Board also permanently barred 12 people, suspended seven, temporarily barred one and publicly censured six.

One adviser who lost his CFP credentials was David Medlin, a North Richland Hills, Texas, adviser who most recently was registered with LPL Financial. The CFP Board alleged that on two separate occasions in 2021, Medlin directed the term “white power” towards a local city council candidate who was a person of color. The second incident was captured on a cellphone video. The CFP Board said the alleged behavior violates its code of ethics and standards of conduct.

Medlin could not be reached for a comment. The CFP Board did not respond to a request for comment.

The CFP Board enforces ethical standards by investigating alleged violations and presenting complaints to a disciplinary and ethics commission. The commission meets six times per year to review alleged violations and determine if there are grounds for sanction.

Other advisers who lost their CFP credentials were Mark Trewitt — a Dallas-area adviser who allegedly recommended that clients, some whom were seniors, invest in high-risk, illiquid private placement funds and nonlisted REITs — and Michael Hartlett, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, broker formerly registered with LPL who was accused of trading in client accounts without having obtained written authorization.

Among those who received a permanent bar was Nicholas Spagnoletti, a Madison, New Jersey-based adviser who was recently arrested and charged with the possession and distribution of child pornography.

Jonathan Robbins, a former attorney, accountant and CFP in Potomac, Maryland, received a permanent bar in relation to several violations of the state’s rules of professional conduct for attorneys. In November, Robbins was sentenced to 40 years in prison for stealing $1.8 million from an 88-year-old widow who was seeking help with her estate, according to a local news channel.  

Roderick Whited, a Gainesville, Florida-based broker formerly registered with Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, was permanently barred by the CFP Board for failing to comply with an investigation related to a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. action that alleged Whited pocketed money raised at a fundraising event for pediatric cancer. The CFP Board had imposed an interim suspension on Whited in December.

David Jenson, an Altamonte Springs, Florida-based adviser who received a temporary suspension from the CFP Board in February 2021, was permanently barred by the CFP Board for not complying with its investigation. Last November, Jenson was barred by Finra for allegedly recommending that clients invest in an unsuitable concentration of church bonds.   

Bentley Blackmon, a former broker who managed $1.7 billion at Stephens Inc., consented to Finra findings that he failed to report private securities transactions and has been suspended by the CFP Board.

Johannes Allender, a financial adviser in Gaithersburg, Maryland, received a public censure for filing for public bankruptcy last November. Allender was the former financial adviser to Mike Isabella’s defunct restaurant chain, which was the subject of lawsuits regarding unpaid wages and sexual harassment.

Advisers in this story did not respond to requests for comment or could not be reached.   

[More: CFP Board imposes interim suspension on barred rep]