Roger Zullo Allegedly Took Part in Sales of Costly Variable Annuities to Retirees and Health Care Workers Which Brought in as Much as $1.8 Million in Commissions
Roger S. Zullo, an investment adviser with Boston’s LPL Financial, allegedly made sales of variable annuities to health care employees and retirees, bringing in approximately $1.8 million in commissions, according to a Complaint from the Massachusetts Securities Division currently under review by attorneys Joe Peiffer and James Booker.
Roger Zullo allegedly made sales of unsuitable annuity investments to at least 11 clients, actions which produced big payouts for himself and his brokerage firm, LPL, said Complaint notes.
Among the many aforementioned clients were many elderly. For example, in 2015 Zullo allegedly took in assets of an 80-year-old-plud person with failing health by purportedly luring him into a so-called “deferred” annuity that would not provide her any income for a minimum of at least two years, the Complaint further alleges.
In another strange case, Roger S. Zullo allegedly arranged for a woman come to see him at a subway station near his office for an investment which purportedly cost her $1,391 in surrender fees and “deprived the client of income she relied on to pay for the basic costs of living”, the Complaint also reports.
Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin then goes on to make allegations that Zullo had knowledge that the aforementioned product would not generate immediate income and that the annuity switch would give Zullo and LPL with cash up front while leaving the client in financial disaster.
Galvin then goes on to further allege that LPL did not perform proper execution of its supervisory duties regarding Zullo.
What is more, Galvin then relates how Zullo, rather than receiving reprimand, was then allegedly rewarded by LPL who gave him prestigious entrance into the firm’s so-called “chairman’s club”.
Said club was supposed to only be for the best annuity producers, and Zullo was given entrance despite the many red flags regarding his sales tactics, the Complaint reports.
The Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane securities lawyers are investigating Roger S. Zullo’s alleged fraud scheme.
Zullo Allegedly Prompted an LPL Supervisor to Warn LPL Higher Ups that Zullo Routinely Had Clients Switch into New Annuities in order to Generate Commissions and Also Sold the Same Product Quite Often
In 2014 An LPL supervisor allegedly warned LPL managers that Roger S. Zullo was making sales of a single product, and engaged in a pattern of swapping customers into new annuities every six or seven years to generate commissions, according to a recent Complaint presently being reviewed by attorneys Joe Peiffer and James Booker.
Galvin and the Massachusetts Securities Division are purportedly engaging in an effort to permanently bar Zullo from the securities industry in Massachusetts, the Complaint notes.
The Complaint offers more and more details about the case. It allegedly demands that Zullo, who allegedly told Securities Division investigators that he started pursuing clients in health care facilities as far back as 1987 through investment seminars at Boston hospitals, along with LPL has to repay clients for their losses.
The Complaint also calls on LPL to keep an independent investigator and compliance consultant to look into Zullo’s annuity sales and recommend ways to make the firm’s supervisory process, the Complaint reports.
The Complaint also further makes allegations that Zullo and LPL brought in more than $1,825,000 in variable annuity commissions over three years.
Almost $1,791,000 of the aforementioned money came to fruition from commissions on the same product, the Polaris Platinum III (B Shares) variable annuity, said Complaint notes.
Galvin then elaborates that most of Zullo’s annuity sales were allegedly from the Polaris Platinum annuities, which come along with a 7% commission.
Of the aforementioned commissions, 90% allegedly was supposed to go toward Roger S. Zullo and 10% for LPL, the Complaint reports.
Many times clients allegedly were made to pay so-called “surrender charges” following actions in which Zullo convinced them to switch to the Polaris Platinum annuity, the Complaint notes.
Gavin is now looking to take away Zullo’s registration as an adviser in Massachusetts and permanently bar him from the securities business in the state, while also seeking restitution for those who lost money, the Complaint reports.
Furthermore, it also asks LPL to keep an independent third-party investigator and compliance consultant to probe Zullo’s annuity sales and recommend ways to make LPL’s supervisory review process and client complaint resolution procedures better, the Complaint notes.
In Summation, the Complaint alleges that Zullo’s “greed for commissions at times led him to disregard the wellbeing of his clients.”
Securities Lawyers Investigating
The Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane securities lawyers often represent investors who lose money as a result of fraud schemes and are currently investigating Roger Zullo’s alleged fraud scheme. They take most cases of this type on a contingency fee basis and advance the case costs, and only get paid for their fees and costs out of money they recover for their clients.
Investors who believe they lost money as a result of Roger Zullo’s alleged fraud scheme may contact the securities lawyers at Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane, Joe Peiffer or James Booker, for a free no-obligation evaluation of their recovery options, at 504-523-2434 or via e-mail at jpeiffer@pwcklegal.com or jbooker@pwcklegal.com.