FINRA has suspended stockbroker Lonna Rae Dehn Ristvedt (CRD #2277778) for four months from the securities industry and ordered her to pay a $5,000 fine. These sanctions arose from Ms. Dehn Ristvedt’s solicitation of Future Income Payments, LLC. This blog has previously written about Future Income Payments, LLC.
FINRA alleged that in June 2015, Lonna Rae Dehn Ristvedt participated in private securities transactions totaling $163,320 without prior disclosure and approval from her employer at the time, National Planning Corporation. Specifically, FINRA alleged:
- In June 2015, Ms. Dehn Ristvedt solicited two investors to purchase $163,320 in securities of Future Income Payments, LLC.
- Future Income Payments, LLC represented itself as a structured cash flow investment that purchased pensions at a discount from pensioners and then sold a portion of those pensions as a “pension stream to investors.”
- Future Income Payments, LLC reportedly promised investors a 6.5% to 8% rate of return.
- Dehn Ristvedt received a total of $5,457 in commissions associated with her sales of Future Income Payments, LLC.
- National Planning Corporation prohibited its financial advisors from participating in private securities transactions without prior written approval from the firm.
- Dehn Ristvedt did not provide notice to National Planning Corporation before soliciting investors to purchase securities of Future Income Payments, LLC.
- Dehn Ristvedt incorrectly attested on an Annual Compliance Questionnaire that she did not participate in private securities transactions.
In April 2018, Future Income Payments, LLC ceased business, owing nearly $300 million in unpaid investor payments to over 2,600 individuals. In March 2019, Future Income Payments, LLC and its owner, Scott A. Kohn, were indicted by a Federal Grand Jury alleging a conspiracy to engage in mail and wire fraud. According to the indictment, Future Income Payments, LLC operated a Ponzi scheme.
Ms. Dehn Ristvedt was a financial advisor at National Planning Corporation in Fargo, North Dakota, from July 2010 until November 2017. She then worked at LPL Financial LLC in Fargo, North Dakota, from November 2017 until November 2019.
Brokerage firms like National Planning Corporation must properly supervise financial advisors and customer accounts. Brokerage firms must also establish and maintain a reasonably designed system to oversee account activity, such as private securities transactions, to ensure compliance with securities laws and industry regulations. When a brokerage firm fails to sufficiently supervise its financial advisors or the investment account activity, it may be liable for investment losses sustained by customers.
If you have lost money because you invested in Future Income Payments, LLC, contact New York securities arbitration lawyer August Iorio of Iorio Altamirano LLP. August Iorio can be reached at august@ia-law.com or toll-free at (855) 430-4010 for a free and confidential evaluation of your account.
Iorio Altamirano LLP is a boutique law firm located in the heart of New York City. Iorio Altamirano LLP represents investors nationwide who have suffered investment losses due to securities fraud.