In June 2020, FINRA suspended financial advisor Micha W. Patterson (CRD #5562392) for one month from the securities industry and ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine. These sanctions arose from Mr. Patterson’s solicitation of Future Income Payments, LLC. This blog has previously written about Future Income Payments, LLC.
FINRA alleged that between June 2017 and November 2017, Micah Patterson participated in private securities transactions totaling $30,644 without prior disclosure and approval from his employer at the time, MML Investors Services, LLC. Specifically, FINRA alleged:
- From June through November 2017, Patterson solicited an investor to purchase $30,644 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 7% to 8% rate of return.
- Patterson received a total of $1,225.76 in commissions associated with his sale of Future Income Payments, LLC.
- MML Investors Services, LLC prohibited its financial advisors from participating in private securities transactions without prior written approval from the firm.
- Patterson did not provide notice to MML Investors Services, LLC before soliciting the investor to purchase securities of Future Income Payments, LLC.
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.
Mr. Patterson was a financial advisor at MML Investors Services, LLC in Centerville, Utah, from August 2014 until September 2017. He was then employed by Hornor, Townsend & Kent, LLC, as a registered representative in Layton, Utah, from September 2017 until June 2020. Hornor, Townsend & Kent, LLC allowed Mr. Patterson to resign in June 2020 after Mr. Patterson consented to FINRA’s sanctions arising out of his improper solicitation of securities of Future Income Payments, LLC.
Brokerage firms like MML Investors Services, LLC 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.
According to public records, at least one other financial advisor at MML Investors Services, LLC, Neemit M. Shah, has been sanctioned by FINRA for inappropriately soliciting securities of Future Income Payments, LLC. Mr. Shah, who worked in MML Investor Services, LLC branch office in Glen Allen, Virginia, solicited $408,000 investors to purchase $408,000 in securities of Future Income Payments, LLC.
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.