SEC Charges Former LPL Advisor With Misappropriating $1.7 Million

Posted on July 20th, 2022 at 2:39 PM
SEC Charges Former LPL Advisor With Misappropriating $1.7 Million

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a former LPL advisor with misappropriating $1.7 million from at least three clients to cover personal expenses, including the purchase of a house. 

The former Georgia-based LPL advisor, Eric Hollifield, worked at LPL between October 2016 and September 2021 while additionally serving as a co-owner, managing member, and investment advisor representative of Hamilton Investment Counsel, which also was recently sanctioned by the SEC. LPL and Hamilton Investment Counsel each terminated Hollifield for failing to disclose his outside business activities (OBAs). Hollifield transferred client assets to an outside business absent the client’s permission in January 2020, according to the SEC. Hollifield siphoned the funds to his own accounts, where he used the money to cover personal expenses and eventually purchase a 37-acre property with a home for $1.7 million in Winder, Georgia, according to the SEC. 

The SEC has additionally charged Hamilton Investment Counsel and its chief compliance officer, Jeffrey Kirkpatrick, for failing to enforce the firm’s policies related to monitoring Hollifield’s outside business activities. Hamilton Investment Counsel agreed to a cease-and-desist order and a civil penalty of $150,000 while Kirkpatrick also agreed to a cease-and-desist order and a $15,000 civil penalty. 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, regulatory and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, SEC, LPL

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

I am so blessed to have you and your dynamic team defending me. Your ethics, forward thinking and strategies are amazing.  You guys are the best group of attorneys in the country that I could hire to handle this complicated case.

Cindy C.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

September 5, 2025
Merrill Lynch Advisor Faces FINRA Disciplinary Action for Refusing to Cooperate with Investigation

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has initiated disciplinary proceedings against former Merrill Lynch broker Ali F. Chehab of Portland, Oregon. According to ThinkAdvisor, FINRA alleges that he refused to cooperate in an investigation into potential misconduct, including unauthorized trading and material misrepresentati...

September 4, 2025
Wells Fargo Ties $2,000 Bonus to Non-Solicitation Clause, Raising Advisor Concerns

Wells Fargo & Co. recently issued a $2,000 bank-wide award to its 215,000 employees, following the Federal Reserve’s June decision to lift its asset growth restrictions.

September 3, 2025
Kansas City Advisory Firms Agree to $25.5 Million Settlement Over No-Poach Allegations

Mariner Wealth Advisors, along with two other Kansas City-area firms, has agreed to a $25.5 million class action settlement over allegations that they illegally agreed not to solicit each other’s advisors.