Couple awarded $2.5 million in Ponzi case run by rogue broker

A Texas brokerage firm has been ordered to pay two investors nearly $2.5 million over allegations that it failed to supervise one of its employees who allegedly was running a Ponzi scheme. An arbitration panel with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. found Golden Beneficial Securities Corp. liable after one of its employees was accused of misappropriating customer funds. Claimants James and Margery Dickson said that they invested more than $3 million through a broker who said that he was putting them into JDFG Fixed Income, which was supposed to be a corporate bond fund, and other investment, according to the Finra arbitration award. However, the assets were lumped together in a Ponzi scheme that totaled more than $50 million, according to claimants' attorney James Boanerges of Cooper Jackson & Boanerges PC. The Securities and Exchange Commission had already conducted an investigation of the broker, but the investigation failed to recover all the damages, he said. Other investors who were allegedly defrauded by the same broker, Joel David Salinas, have filed claims against his estate and his former investment adviser firm J. David Financial Group. Mr. Salinas committed suicide in 2011. Mr. Boanergers said that he wasn't sure if Golden Beneficial Securities would be able to pay his client. The firm didn't appear at arbitration proceedings and hasn't offered restitution. Finra canceled Golden Beneficial Securities' registration in January after the firm failed to pay arbitration fees related to another case. Golden Beneficial Securities didn't respond to requests for comment.