Family Files $18M Investor Fraud Lawsuit Against Securities America Alleging Broker Fraud

Originally published by P. Clarkson Collins Jr..

The Jamieson family has filed a broker-dealer fraud lawsuit against Securities America. They are seeking $18M in damages related to the actions of one of the firm’s former brokers, Hector A. May, who late last year pleaded guilty to operating an $11M Ponzi scheme that went on for years. May now faces 25 years in prison. Securities America fired him last year in the wake of the fraud allegations against him.

Last month, the Jamieson family sued May and Securities America. They claim that they lost $18M from working with May, who had been their adviser since 2001. The family contends that the former Securities America broker and his daughter Vania May Bell stole millions of dollars from them. In addition to working as a Securities America broker, May also was president and CCO of Executive Compensation Planners Inc. (ECP), which is no longer in operation. Bell served as ECP’s controller.

The plaintiffs contend that May and Bell advised them in a manner that made it possible for the two of them to keep defrauding the family. The Jamiesons are accusing Securities America of not performing its duties by:

• Failing to properly supervise May.
• Disregarding warning signs of the fraud as far back as 2003, when May at that point had stolen just $750K from them.

The Jamiesons believe that if the brokerage firm had paid attention to the red flags earlier, then the fraud could have been exposed 16 years ago instead of last year and their financial losses wouldn’t be as much.

According to May’s BrokerCheck record, he worked as a registered broker in the securities industry for 44 years. 22 of those years were at Securities America. Two other customer disputes against May alleging broker fraud have already been settled for more than $406K and almost $4M, respectively.

May is accused of pretending to invest in bond funds for investors when, in fact, he was using their money to fund his lavish lifestyle and operate a Ponzi fraud. In December, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed civil charges against May and Bell accusing them of defrauding their community members, close friends, and even family. The regulator contends that at least 15 investment advisory clients were the victims of the scheme that allegedly misappropriated at least $7.9M from them. The regulator accused the father and daughter of generating bogus account statements to hide the fraud while “grossly” inflating the victims’ holdings.

Broker Fraud
If Hector May or another Securities America broker was your financial representative and you sustained substantial losses that you think may be a result of broker fraud, please contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm) today so that we can help you determine whether you have grounds for an investor fraud claim. Our investor fraud lawyers work with high-net worth investors, retail investors, and institutional investors throughout the US. Over the years, we have been successful in helping thousands of investors in recouping their money.

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