FINRA barred Donald Shelby Toomer, formerly of Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC in Las Vegas, NV, following a December 2015 indictment on charges of securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and investment adviser fraud. The documents allege Toomer engaged in a fraudulent pump-and-dump scheme to manipulate the stocks of three speculative penny stocks by recommending the targeted stocks to his Wells Fargo customers. FINRA barred Toomer after he refused to provide documents and information during the course of FINRA's investigation.
STAR Database / OHO Proceeding #2016048445101
The report states that Toomer (CRD #2842723) conspired to manipulate the OTC Bulletin Board microcap securities Nutritional Holdings, Inc. (NXTH), Clear-Lite Holdings, Inc. (CLRH), and Mesa Energy Holdings, Inc. (MSEH) by engaging in coordinated trading to artificially cause stock prices to rise (the pump) before dumping large volumes of shares while their prices were artificially inflated (the dump).
Toomer allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed cash kickbacks and other compensation in exchange for recommending the targeted penny stocks to his customers, and falsely told Wells Fargo Advisors that his customers' purchases of these stocks—which totaled several hundreds of thousands of shares—were unsolicited.
The indictment alleges that instead of providing recommendations to his customers based on their best interests, Toomer instead made recommendations that favored his own personal interests.
Federal authorities estimated that Toomer's conspiracy generated over $30 million in illicit trading profits.
According to Toomer's BrokerCheck report, the SEC filed a parallel civil action alleging that the Las Vegas-based Toomer agreed to buy shares of three microcap stocks in client accounts in the furtherance of a pump-and-dump scheme in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash kickbacks, which he did not disclose to Wells Fargo Advisors.
A third disclosure—employment separation after allegations—also appears in Toomer's report, noting that he voluntarily resigned from Wells Fargo while facing allegations that he violated the antifraud provision of federal securities laws.
If you have invested with former Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network broker Donald Shelby Toomer of Las Vegas, Nevada, or with any financial adviser or broker whose unsuitable recommendations of penny stocks or whose engagement in a pump-and-dump or other fraudulent scheme has proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for investigation and consultation.