Lawsuit filed in Aiken County against Ameriprise Financial Regarding its Agent, Doug Engler
An Aiken woman has filed a lawsuit against Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC after suffering significant financial losses due to the actions of her financial advisor, John Douglas “Doug” Engler, Sr.
According to the complaint, Doug Engler recommended unsuitable, risky investment strategies and securities to his client and failed to advise her of the potential risks of these products. Instead, he assured her the investment strategy had “no significant risk.”
Last month, Robert Rikard with Rikard & Protopapas in Columbia, South Carolina filed the lawsuit against Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC in Aiken County on behalf of his client, Sue Benson.
The lawsuit alleges that Ms. Benson began working with Doug Engler (CRD #835827) in 2006 after her mother passed away. Engler was entrusted to manage Ms. Benson’s inheritance which should have been sufficient to provide her with financial security for the rest of her life, according to the complaint.
Engler never told Ms. Benson that her account was setup to trade on margin, which according to the complaint, is an aggressive trading strategy that was not suitable for Ms. Benson. Likewise, Ms. Benson alleges that Engler failed to explain the risks and potential benefits of a margin trading strategy and failed to obtain Ms. Benson’s authorization before executing individual trades. According to the complaint, these failures have caused Ms. Benson to suffer devastating financial losses.
“Time and time again we see vulnerable retirees and soon to be retirees victimized by unsuitable investment plans, and investment strategies that are too aggressive for the customer’s goals,” said Robert Rikard, attorney for Ms. Benson. “The result is often a loss of our client’s hard-earned money that they have set aside to provide for them during their retirement years. Once they lose that money, they have no ability to earn it back other than through litigation,” Rikard added.
In the lawsuit, Ms. Benson alleges that Engler did not act in his client’s best interests, and that Ameriprise breached its fiduciary duties with respect to Ms. Benson’s accounts, and failed to properly supervise its agent, which caused her significant damages.
South Carolina Securities Lawyers
Rikard & Protopapas has represented clients all over the state in situations involving significant investment losses. Unfortunately, brokers and financial advisors do not always act in their clients’ best interests, so we’re here to provide guidance in these troubling times and fight for the compensation you and your loved ones deserve.
If you lost money as a result of bad investment advice or the inappropriate actions of a broker, please contact us immediately to speak with our legal professionals. It doesn’t cost anything to speak with someone on our team. Call us at 803-978-6111 or fill out a contact form here.