UBS Alleges Former Texas Advisor Stole $17 Million From Clients

Posted on May 17th, 2022 at 8:46 AM
UBS Alleges Former Texas Advisor Stole $17 Million From Clients

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law:

UBS Wealth Management alleges that one of its former Texas-based advisors stole nearly $17 million from clients as part of a scheme that ran almost 25 years. 

According to UBS’s suit, Robert Turner fraudulently convinced 23 clients to buy at least $17 million of stakes in a “sham” outside investment that he and his purported “college buddy” had “cooked up.” UBS has paid $5.7 million to three clients who lost money and plans to reimburse others after learning about the fraud late last year, according to its lawsuit. UBS additionally named the former advisor’s wife, Stephanie Turner, as a defendant in an effort to freeze assets, but not other allegations were made against her. In September 2021, Stephanie and her husband’s team joined Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., which was around the time their scheme was unraveling, according to UBS. The team had managed $900 million in client assets and generated nearly $3 million in annual revenue at the time of their move, according to a Stifel spokesman. Stephanie continues to work at Stifel while Robert voluntarily resigned in January, according to BrokerCheck. 

UBS has additionally filed a pending arbitration complaint against Turner with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), according to its suit. Robert Turner solicited the clients between 1997 and 2021, who were “people close to him who knew and trusted him through familial ties and friendship.” The clients invested in Fairfax Financial Corporation, which was the “sham” company organized by Turner and his friend Mark Woodward, according to UBS. UBS further alleges that Turner and Woodward designed “fraudulent” account statements to conceal the scheme while promising investors a 4% to 8% compounded quarterly return. 

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

 
 

Tags: eccleston law, ubs, advisor

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

We just wanted to say thanks for your work in helping us get back some of the money we lost. We are not by any means rich, but we have saved some money and we have done so through a tight-fisted approach to most everything we do. So losing a significant chunk of money hurt…especially at a time when everyone else was growing their accounts. We really appreciate the work you did.

Allan and Adele

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

September 17, 2025
FINRA Suspends Centaurus Dallas Broker Over Excessive Alternative Investment Sales

FINRA has suspended a Centaurus Financial broker, William Burks, for four months after finding he placed as much as 91 percent of a client’s net worth into illiquid alternative investments.

September 16, 2025
Former Morgan Stanley Advisors Win Partial Court Victory in Client Solicitation Dispute

Two former Morgan Stanley advisors in Hackensack, New Jersey have defeated Morgan Stanley’s initial effort to block them from soliciting clients, according to an August 15 order from New Jersey Superior Court.

September 15, 2025
California Young-Gun Investor Charged in Alleged $6 Million Ponzi Scheme

Federal prosecutors have accused Mihir Deepak Sukthankar, a California resident once celebrated as a teenage trading “prodigy,” of orchestrating a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme.