SEC Charges Louisiana RIA for Defrauding Clients through a Cherry-Picking Scheme

Posted on October 1st, 2018 at 4:10 PM

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:

The SEC has filed charges against Louisiana-based RIA, World Tree Financial, and its husband and wife owners, Wesley Kyle Perkins and Priscilla Gilmore Perkins, for conducting a cherry-picking scheme over the course of a four-year period.

According to the SEC’s complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, the advisers traded securities in World Tree's omnibus account and delayed allocating the securities to specific client accounts until they had observed the securities' performance over the course of the day. The advisers then allocated profitable trades to their own accounts, while simultaneously allocating unprofitable trades to a select group of clients. As a result of allocating only unprofitable trades to a select group of clients, those clients realized losses of approximately $4.46 million in their accounts.

According to the SEC, World Tree had $54 million in assets under management and 161 individual clients. World Tree had withdrawn its SEC registration in 2012 but the firm continues to be registered with the state of Louisiana as an investment adviser.

The attorneys of Eccleston Law LLC represent investors and advisors nationwide in securities and employment matters. The securities lawyers at Eccleston Law also practice a variety of other areas of practice for financial investors and advisors including Securities FraudCompliance ProtectionBreach of Fiduciary DutyFINRA Matters, and much more. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 65 years in delivering the highest quality legal services. If you are in need of legal services, contact us to schedule a one-on-one consultation today.

Related Attorneys: James J. Eccleston

Tags: james eccleston, eccleston law, eccleston law llc, eccleston, SEC, cherry picking scheme

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