Stockbroker Arbitration: "I Trusted a Man Who Was Dishonest"

Vancouver, WAInvestors run the risk of losing money on investments or not getting as much of a return as they thought they would get. There is, obviously, a certain amount of risk that is involved in investing. However, problems occur when the risk comes not from the investment itself, but from unscrupulous investment advisors, who do not properly manage a client's money. In such cases, investors turn to stockbroker arbitration to reclaim their lost funds.

In April of 2006, Martie D. met a representative of Ameriprise and decided to sign up for the company's services. In June of the same year, Martie's husband died and that August she received insurance money, which was invested with Ameriprise. However, a few months after Martie signed up with Ameriprise, the representative transferred Martie to her husband.

"In the next nine months, that man took $17,000 from me for buying and selling stock," Martie says. "I was promised 10 percent on the stock and I only received 2-3 percent. I trusted this man from Ameriprise. As far as I'm concerned, he used me and stole from me.

"When I asked for meetings he would not agree to them. On the website for the account I was not shown the fees I was charged. At one point, the website was even taken away and I was told it was not working. Actually, the representative was locking it from me.

"In March of 2007, the representative finally agreed to a meeting, so I met with him and a man introduced as an Ameriprise manager. At the meeting they made promises to me that were not kept. They promised me data and information that was never provided. The manager refused to give me a business card, so I phoned the Amerirprise office and asked for the name of the Vancouver Ameriprise manager. The name they gave me was not the name of the man I met with. When I gave them the name of the man I met with, I was told he was no higher than the representative I was dealing with.

"I tried again for another meeting with my representative and brought my son as a back up and as a witness. I met with a man from the company's legal division who was very nervous to talk with me. Again I was promised information and data on the fees I was charged but that was not produced for three to four weeks.

"I finally took my money out of Ameriprise and put it into Edward Jones. I hired an accountant to look at the records from Ameriprise, so I can prove that they took a lot of money from me in a short time. Ameriprise sent me a letter stating that I had to sign a document stating that they were not responsible for the money I lost while it was invested with them or I would pay more to get my money back. I refused to sign the document.

All told, including the audit, putting money with them for only 11.5 months cost me $17,000 in fees, $2,000 to take my money out and $2,000 to audit the account. That is a heck of a ratio.

"They told me that they were buying and selling on the account but I couldn't see the fees. The representative came to my house and said that they didn't charge me for what they did. He was stealing from me.

"After that, Ameriprise fired him but they gave me back to his wife to deal with. After that man stole from me, would I trust his wife to deal with my money? I will never forgive them. I wish I had been brave and pulled my money out before he ripped me off for $17,000. He appeared to have integrity—I trusted a man who was dishonest."

If you have been the victim of an unscrupulous investment advisor, contact a lawyer to discuss your legal options. You may be eligible to file a stockbroker arbitration claim against the advisor.