Galvin calls out broker who claims he never had a customer complaint

Massachusetts securities regulators have charged Alan P. Siegel, a broker with G.A. Repple & Co. in Easton, Mass., with lying on his website, claiming he had never received a complaint.

According to the administrative complaint filed by the state’s securities division, Mr. Siegel had for years published a statement on his website under the heading “Reliability Report” stating that he had never had a complaint filed against him by any company, organization, or regulatory agency. He drew attention to the word “never” by writing it in capital letters and underling it, according to a press release from the office of William F. Galvin, secretary of the commonwealth.

“In fact,” the state said, “Mr. Siegel has had several complaints filed against him by customers who alleged hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.”

Mr. Siegel has four disclosures on his Brokercheck report, including three customer complaints. The most serious complaint came from a customer who claimed losses of $279,000 on investments that defaulted. The allegations included unsuitability, over-concentration and material ommissions. All three complaints were settled.

G.A. Repple also was charged in the complaint with failure to supervise Mr. Siegel by simply “rubber-stamping the content” on his website. The firm was well aware of the complaints against Mr. Siegel, the order said, “having paid for settlements with customers who had accused him of breach of fiduciary duty, selling unsuitable investments, and failure to disclose material information.”

Regulators are seeking a cease and desist order, censure, sanctions and an unspecified administrative fine on Mr. Siegel and G.A. Repple.