The Brokercheck Report further states that LPL Financial “Discharged” Mr. Tunink for “Failed to disclose and receive prior approval for loans from customers; and settled a customer complaint away from the Firm.” Mr. Tunink had been registered with LPL as a securities representative from 2021 to September 2025, and previously was registered with Avantax Investment Services from 1996 to 2021.

Financial advisors who are registered with FINRA are generally prohibited from taking loans from their customers pursuant to FINRA Rule 3240. The limited exceptions in the rule include loans from family members, loans from financial institutions, and the borrowing or lending arrangement is based on a bona fide business relationship outside of the broker-customer relationship. However, even in those limited exceptions, the representative’s FINRA firm must be notified of the loan and approve the loan.

The Securities Fraud lawyers at Greco & Greco have decades of experience representing harmed investors from across the country for claims related to improper loans and broker theft, as well as claims for suitability, securities fraud, failure to supervise, negligence, violations of Regulation Best Interest, and breach of fiduciary duty. If you have had your trusted investment advisor solicit a loan from you or otherwise wrongfully take control of your funds and savings, please contact Scott Greco for a free attorney consultation.

The alleged wrongdoing centered on the language included by J.P. Morgan in its settlement agreements with its advisory and brokerage firm customers to which it paid over $1,000.00. Virtually all FINRA securities firms and Registered Investment Advisors require a confidentiality clause to be included in any settlement agreement with a customer. These settlement agreements are often the result of various misconduct by the firms or their advisors, such as securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, unauthorized trading, broker theft, recommended unsuitable investments, and churning. The reason why securities firms always require their settlements to be confidential is clear – they wish to hide their misconduct and the misconduct of their advisors from the public. FINRA’s Brokercheck report does require firms to disclose settlements with advisors/firms, but the details are often extremely general, and one has to look up the broker directly to find the disclosures.

According to the SEC Order, from 2020 to 2023 J.P. Morgan included language in 362 release agreements that prohibited customers not only from disclosing the amount of the settlement to the SEC, but also prohibited disclosing the facts related to the account (i.e. the misconduct). Although the releases did allow disclosure to the SEC in response to an inquiry, it did not allow the customers to initiate contact with the SEC.

These actions allegedly violated the SEC protections for securities whistleblowers, and as stated by the SEC in the Order: “JPMS willfully violated Exchange Act Rule 21F-17(a), which prohibits any person from taking any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation.”

In addition to the fine, J.P.Morgan was required to advise its customers that they were allowed to contact the SEC directly.

If you were the victim of misconduct of a securities brokerage firm or financial advisor/broker resulting in the loss of your monies, please contact investment fraud attorney Scott Greco for a free attorney consultation about your potential case.

Mr. Quach was allegedly under investigation by FINRA as a result of being permitted to resign “while under review by the firm for violating firm’s policy related to borrowing funds from a client.” Mr. Quach’s FINRA Brokercheck report states that he was registered with Transamerica since 2012. The report further states that he had one recent customer complaint relating to borrowed funds that settled, and that he was permitted to resign in March, 2023.

Registered financial advisors are generally prohibited from borrowing money from customers under FINRA Rule 3240 except in limited circumstances such as from a family member or other personal relationship. The loan must also be disclosed and approved by the advisor’s firm.

The reasons behind the rule include the myriad of conflicts of interest associated with an advisor recommending to a customer that they pay the advisor their funds, and further include the fact that such loans can be cover for thefts by financial advisors.

The Maryland Securities Fraud attorneys at Greco & Greco have decades of experience representing customers who have been defrauded by their financial advisors through loan schemes or actual thefts. Please contact Scott Greco for a free attorney consultation if you may have been a victim of such a scheme.

Vining-Sparks had filed a U-5 filing for Mr. Rodgers stating that he had voluntarily resigned from the firm in May 2022. According to the AWC, Mr. Rodgers failed to appear for related on the record testimony, and he and FINRA agreed to a sanction of a bar from registering with FINRA securities Broker-Dealers.

Mr. Rodgers’ FINRA Brokercheck report shows one customer complaint relating to an alleged failure to disclose risk from 2011, with a $105,000.00 settlement.

Greco & Greco’s lawyers have extensive experience with securities fraud cases involving outside business activities of brokers which have not been disclosed to their firms. If you have suffered losses due to your broker’s recommendation to invest in an investment that turned out to be fraudulent, and wish to discuss the matter for free with an attorney, please contact Scott Greco for a free securities fraud attorney consultation.

According to the AWC, Mr. Smith borrowed money in five different loans from a single customer without advising his firm about the loans. Loans from customers to stock brokers are generally prohibited unless they fall into several limited exceptions such as when the customer is a family member. The loans were allegedly discovered when the customer died and the estate raised questions about the loans. Mr. Smith subsequently resigned from Edward Jones while under investigation.

The FINRA AWC imposed a year suspension on the financial advisor, and a $10,000 fine.

Greco & Greco has previously recovered funds for multiple customers who knowingly or unknowingly were involved in loans to the financial advisors in violation of industry rules and brokerage firm policies. In some situations advisors may attempt to cover up broker theft from customers through the use of claimed loans. If you or someone you know was a victim of such misconduct, please contact Scott Greco for a free attorney consultation about your case.