Texas RIA orders $366,218 refill to coffee shop investors

The Texas Securities Commissioner has ordered Jason Hyson LeBlanc, currently an investment adviser representative with Vere Global Wealth Management, to repay $366,218 to 14 individuals who bought promissory notes he sold to fund a Fort Bend County coffee shop, owned in part by his wife. In addition, the state regulator placed Mr. LeBlanc on five years' probation and barred him from soliciting new accounts on behalf of his current firm for one year. [More:​ SEC bars Washington State RIA for selling unregistered promissory notes] Mr. LeBlanc's wife was a part owner of the coffee shop, located in Fulshear, Texas. While a rep at Girard Securities in 2015, Mr. LeBlanc sold the notes but didn't inform Girard of the sales or the fact that he was serving as the chief financial officer of the company that owned the coffee shop at the same time he worked for Girard. [Recommended video:​ Social Security COLA not great news for 2020, says Mary Beth Franklin] The notes promised an annualized return of 8% for three years and were issued through Missco Services, a now-defunct entity that Mr. LeBlanc controlled. He solicited Girard clients for the notes, and 11 of the 14 investors were clients of the firm. Six clients withdrew funds from their Girard account to invest in the coffee shop. In 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. barred Mr. LeBlanc from the securities industry. Investing in profitability, performance and people: Register for our Top Advisory Firm Summit.