Ameriprise’s Michael Dellaporta Terminated For Unauthorized Trading

Michael Joseph Dellaporta Jr. (CRD #: 500214), who previously was a registered representative of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (September 10, 2010 to June 23, 2015), has divulged through Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) BrokerCheck that Ameriprise discharged him as a result of Dellaporta’s failure to follow Ameriprise’s policies relating to trading in its customers’ investment accounts.

Ameriprise alleged that Dellaporta was discharged for violating the company’s policies. According to Ameriprise, Dellaporta exercised discretion in customer accounts without obtaining authorization. He was also alleged to have steered customers to effect fixed income securities transactions despite those securities not being approved by Ameriprise. In addition, Ameriprise alleged that Dellaporta solicited option trades at volumes that were prohibited by the firm, and falsely disclosed that his trades were not solicited.

At least three Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. customers and one Ameriprise customer have contested Dellaporta’s sales practices by filing investment-related disputes. The first dispute concerns an Oppenheimer customer who filed a complaint on July 20, 2009, claiming unsuitability and unauthorized trading. That customer alleged that there was an over-concentration of financial preferred securities in the customer’s account.

Apparently, the allocation of stocks in the customer’s account was not suitable because it conflicted with the customer’s risk tolerance. In addition, the customer claimed that an investment strategy selected for the customer’s account was switched without the customer’s permission, and unauthorized investments held in the customer’s account led the customer to experience losses. On August 14, 2009, Oppenheimer agreed to pay the customer $150,000.00 in order to settle the claim.

Next, a FINRA arbitration #11-03266 was filed by an Oppenheimer customer on September 13, 2011, who alleged that trades were unsuitable and excessive. Apparently, the inappropriate and unwarranted transactions concerned mutual funds, stock, direct investments, corporate-debt and municipal-debt products. The arbitration was settled for $52,500.00 in damages on October 4, 2012.

A third Oppenheimer customer brought FINRA arbitration #13-02086, claiming that trades were excessively placed on margin, and the investments were unsuitable. A settlement was reached on November 18, 2016, under which the customer was paid $375,000.00.

On December 29, 2016, FINRA arbitration #16-03636 was filed by a customer of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. The customer stated that securities had been purchased for the customer’s account without consent from the customer. Moreover, according to the customer, recommendations of sub-par collateralized mortgage obligations were inappropriate, and the selection of those investments led the customer’s account to be over-concentrated in unsuitable investments. Ameriprise resolved the customer’s matter for $150,000.00.

Since being discharged from Ameriprise, Dellaporta has worked for Fusion Analytics Securities LLC (August 28, 2015 – August 13, 2018) and B.B. Graham & Company, Inc. (August 10, 2018 – present).

If you have suffered losses as a result of investing with a broker from Ameriprise or Oppenheimer such as Michael Joseph Dellaporta Jr., call the Law Office of Peter M. Spett at (561) 463-2799 for a free consultation concerning your legal rights and claims. Peter M. Spett has extensive experience recovering investor losses.