Investment Fraud Lawyer: Recover What Your Broker Took From You

Investment Fraud Lawyer

If you lost money because a broker, financial advisor, or investment firm put their own interests ahead of yours, you may be entitled to recover those losses. Patil Law represents defrauded investors nationwide in FINRA arbitration and securities litigation, and has recovered more than $25 million for clients since the firm’s founding.
We work on contingency. You pay nothing upfront, and you owe us nothing unless we recover money for you. A consultation with our office costs nothing and creates no obligation, so there is no reason to sit with a loss you did not cause.

Call 800-950-6553 or contact us online to speak with an attorney about what happened to your account.

Why Investors Nationwide Choose Patil Law

Investment fraud cases are decided on the strength of the evidence and the credibility of the people presenting it. Here is what that means in practice at our firm.

Deep experience on both sides of the industry. Founding attorney Chetan Patil has handled and overseen well over a thousand litigation and arbitration matters in federal and state courts and arbitration forums across the country, managing annual litigation portfolios averaging $20 million. Before representing investors, he held a senior litigation role at Cetera Financial Group, a major brokerage with over $100 billion in assets under management, where he saw firsthand how firms build their defense before a claim is ever filed. That perspective informs how we build your case from day one.

Attorneys who focus on this area of law. Associate attorney Gabriela Dubrocq earned her JD cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law, where she received the Dean’s Certificate of Achievement Award for her work in the school’s Investor Rights Clinic representing underserved investors in FINRA claims. She has since worked on case recoveries for clients into the millions of dollars and practices fluently in Spanish for clients who prefer to work in that language. Our attorneys are admitted in California, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia, and can bring or associate counsel for claims nationwide.

A track record measured in results, not promises. Since our founding, Patil Law has recovered over $25 million for individual investors, retirees, family trusts, and family offices. Past results do not guarantee a particular outcome in your case, every claim is different, but they reflect how we approach a claim: thoroughly, and with the resources to take a case through a full arbitration hearing when a fair settlement is not on the table.

No cost to find out where you stand. We handle investment fraud and broker misconduct claims on a contingency fee basis. You do not pay legal fees unless we recover compensation for you, and your first consultation is free.

Learn more about our attorneys: Chetan Patil, Gabriela Dubrocq, and Patricia Herrera.

Types of Investment Fraud We Handle

Investment fraud and broker misconduct take many forms, and they rarely look like the crude scams people picture when they hear the word “fraud.” Most of the cases we handle involve a broker or advisor who broke a specific rule of the industry, whether that is a suitability standard, a supervisory duty, or a fiduciary obligation. Below is an overview of the claim types we handle most often. Each links to a page with a deeper explanation of that specific type of claim.

Broker Misconduct

Broker misconduct covers a range of prohibited conduct by a financial professional handling your account. The most common categories we see are:

• Churning and excessive trading. A broker generates trades in your account primarily to earn commissions, not to serve your investment goals. Frequent buying and selling with no clear strategy, paired with mounting fees, is a hallmark of this claim. Read more about churning claims.
• Unauthorized trading. A broker buys or sells securities in your account without your permission, whether verbal, written, or through a discretionary agreement you never signed. Read more about unauthorized trading.
• Misrepresentation and omission. A broker gives you false information about an investment, or leaves out facts a reasonable investor would want to know, such as risk level, fees, liquidity restrictions, or conflicts of interest. Read more about misrepresentation claims.
• Cold calling and high-pressure sales tactics. Unsolicited pitches that rely on urgency, guaranteed returns, or pressure to act immediately are a red flag under FINRA’s rules on communications with the public. Read more about cold calling claims.

Visit our broker misconduct overview for the full picture of how these claims work.

Unsuitable Investment Recommendations

FINRA’s suitability rule requires a broker to have a reasonable basis for believing a recommendation fits your investment profile, including your age, income, net worth, risk tolerance, time horizon, and stated objectives. A retiree steered into speculative options trading, or a conservative investor loaded up on illiquid alternative products, are both classic unsuitability cases. If your account does not match the risk level you agreed to, that mismatch is often the starting point of a claim.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Registered investment advisers, as opposed to broker-dealers, generally owe you a fiduciary duty, meaning they are legally required to act in your best interest rather than merely recommend “suitable” options. Whether your account was managed on a discretionary basis (the advisor makes trades without asking first) or a non-discretionary basis (you approve each trade) changes what your advisor was obligated to tell you and how a breach is proven. Read more about discretionary versus non-discretionary account duties or visit our fiduciary duty violations page.

Failure to Supervise

Brokerage firms must maintain a reasonable system to supervise their representatives and catch misconduct before it harms clients. When a firm ignores warning signs, ignores internal compliance flags, or fails to review a broker’s trading activity, the firm itself can be held liable alongside the individual broker. These claims often significantly expand who can be held responsible for your losses. Read more about supervisory failures or visit our failure to supervise page.

Ponzi Schemes and Fraudulent Investment Schemes

A Ponzi scheme pays earlier investors with money from newer investors rather than legitimate investment profits, and it collapses the moment new money stops coming in. Victims of Ponzi and Ponzi-like schemes often have claims not just against the person who ran the scheme, but against the brokerage firms, custodians, or advisors who recommended the investment or failed to catch obvious red flags. Read more about Ponzi scheme recovery.

Elder Financial Abuse and Exploitation

Older investors are disproportionately targeted for investment fraud, whether through undue influence by a trusted advisor, unsuitable recommendations that ignore a shortened time horizon, or outright theft by a caregiver or fiduciary. Many states, including California, have enhanced remedies specifically for financial elder abuse, including the potential for attorney’s fees and enhanced damages. Read more about elder financial abuse claims.

Cryptocurrency and DeFi Fraud

Cryptocurrency exchanges, DeFi platforms, and crypto-based investment products have created new categories of investor loss, from platform collapses and frozen withdrawals to advisors recommending crypto exposure with no basis for understanding the risk. These claims move fast and the recovery window can be limited depending on how the platform failed. Read more about cryptocurrency fraud and DeFi platform collapses.

Investment Account Mismanagement

Beyond individual bad trades, some accounts are mismanaged at a structural level, including improper use of margin that exposes an investor to losses far beyond what they agreed to. Read more about margin account misuse or see our general account mismanagement page for the statutes and standards that apply. If you are trying to understand the legal standards that govern your specific situation, our guide to understanding the relevant statutes is a good starting point.

Securities Fraud Class Actions

When misconduct affects a large group of investors in the same product or fund, a class action can be a more efficient path to recovery than individual arbitration. We evaluate whether your loss fits an existing class action or whether an individual FINRA claim will serve you better. Read more about securities fraud class actions.

General Stock Market Losses

Not every stock market loss is the result of fraud, normal market risk is real, and we tell clients honestly when that is what happened. But when a loss traces back to a broker’s negligence, a firm’s failure to follow its own procedures, or a recommendation that never should have been made, that loss may be recoverable. Read more about evaluating stock market losses.

Warning Signs of Investment Fraud

Many clients come to us after noticing one or more of these red flags. If any of these sound familiar, it is worth a free consultation to have someone review your account.

1. Losses that far exceed relevant market benchmarks over the same period.
2. Frequent trading in your account that you did not request or understand.
3. Trades placed in the account that you never authorized.
4. Guarantees of high returns with little or no risk.
5. Pressure to act immediately, or discouragement from asking questions.
6. Statements that are difficult to understand or that arrive inconsistently.
7. An investment mix that does not match your stated risk tolerance or goals.
8. Fees or commissions that were never clearly explained.
9. Difficulty withdrawing funds or liquidating a position.
10. A broker or advisor who becomes evasive when you ask direct questions about performance.

What Compensation Can Cover

Every case is different, and what you can recover depends on the facts and the type of claim, but compensation in investment fraud and broker misconduct cases commonly includes:

• Compensatory damages for the value lost as a direct result of the misconduct.
• Out-of-pocket losses, including fees and commissions tied to the wrongful conduct.
• Interest on the amount lost, calculated from the date of the loss.
• Punitive damages in cases involving particularly egregious or intentional misconduct.

The FINRA Arbitration Process

Most disputes with a broker or brokerage firm are resolved through FINRA arbitration rather than in court, because most brokerage account agreements include a mandatory arbitration clause. Here is what that process generally looks like from start to finish:

1. Free case evaluation. We review your account statements, trade confirmations, and the circumstances of your loss to determine whether you have a viable claim.
2. Investigation and documentation. We gather the evidence needed to support your claim, including account records, correspondence, and, where relevant, the broker’s disciplinary history through FINRA’s BrokerCheck system.
3. Filing the Statement of Claim. We file your claim with FINRA Dispute Resolution Services, laying out the facts, the misconduct, and the damages you are seeking.
4. Arbitrator selection. The parties select arbitrators from a FINRA-provided panel, typically one arbitrator for smaller claims and three for larger ones.
5. Discovery. Both sides exchange documents and information relevant to the claim under FINRA’s discovery rules.
6. Hearing. The case is presented to the arbitration panel, including witness testimony and expert analysis where appropriate. Learn more about how we use expert witnesses in these hearings.
7. Award. The panel issues a written decision, which is final and binding, generally not subject to appeal on the merits.

FINRA arbitration typically resolves in 12 to 18 months, though timing varies by case complexity and forum caseload. For a broader explanation of how the process works, visit our pages on the FINRA arbitration process and understanding arbitration, or start at our FINRA arbitration

How Long Do You Have to File a Claim?

Under FINRA Rule 12206, a claim is not eligible for arbitration if more than six years have passed since the event giving rise to the claim, regardless of when you discovered the problem. Separately, your state’s own statute of limitations may impose a shorter deadline depending on the type of claim, and those clocks do not always start on the same date. Because these deadlines can run out quietly while you are still gathering information, it is worth speaking to an attorney as soon as you suspect a problem rather than waiting until you are certain.

Who We Represent

We represent individual investors, retirees living on fixed incomes, family trusts, and family offices who have lost money due to broker misconduct or investment fraud. Many of our clients come to us after a lifetime of careful saving was undermined by a single advisor’s bad judgment or self-interest. We take that seriously, and we explain every step of the process in plain language, not industry jargon.

Talk to an Investment Fraud Lawyer Today

If something about your account does not add up, do not wait for the problem to get worse or the filing deadline to close in.

Call Patil Law at 800-950-6553, email cp@patillaw.com, or reach out through our contact page for a free, no-obligation consultation. There is no fee unless we recover money for you.

Frequently Asked Questions — Investment Fraud