FINRA fined and suspended Thomas Edward Burns III for a series of errors on Alternative Investment Forms while at Crown Capital Securities (Orange, CA) that resulted in customer complaints and caused the firm to have inaccurate books and records, marking the second time FINRA/NASD has sanctioned Burns for causing Crown Capital to have inaccurate books and records since 2006.
The findings state the Tom Burns (CRD #36422) made negligent mistakes in identifying customer assets, such as mistakenly double-counting assets held away from Crown Capital in multiple categories (e.g., counting the assets once in stocks or bonds and counting the assets a second time in the "other assets" category), mis-marking guaranteed income from pensions or Social Security checks as "current assets," understating the amounts of current alternative investment holdings, and making computational errors—getting the math wrong in adding up holdings to calculate net worth, and then copying these erroneous calculations to other forms.
FINRA discovered the problem when investigating Burns over a 2015 series of settled customer disputes alleging fraud, elder abuse, lack of suitability in connection with REIT and private placement interests, lack of suitability, failure to disclose material facts, and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the sale of a REIT.
In 2012, Burns reached settlement with a customer who alleged he made several unauthorized trades in her account and forged her signature on a related document, changing the suitability information on her account without authorization.
Mr. Burns' first customer dispute in 1995 alleged misrepresentation and suitability violations, as did disputes settled in 1997 and 2000. In 2006, FINRA predecessor NASD fined Burns $5,000 for failing to notify his firm (Crown Capital of Orange, California) of a purchase, thereby causing Crown Capital to have inaccurate book and records.
If you have invested with Thomas Edward Burns of Crown Capital Securities in Orange, CA, or with any broker or financial adviser whose negligent errors or math mistakes have proven harmful to your investments or interests through the recommendation of REITs, private placements, alternative investments, or other complex products that were not suitable for you, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.