FINRA barred former Kestra Investment Services broker James Blake Daughtry after he failed to cooperate with an investigation into transactions FINRA described as "potentially fraudulent and unauthorized." Kestra formally discharged Daughtry on March 18, 2020. A related lawsuit filed on behalf of retiree-clients allege Daughtry fraudulently used customer signatures to open unauthorized accounts, transferring money to "sham entities" controlled by Daughtry and other defendants.
According to AWC #2020065293201, James Daughtry (CRD #3272282) failed to appear for on-the-record testimony concerning potential fraud or unauthorized transactions in several customer accounts, further instructing FINRA that he will not appear for testimony in the future either.
A lawsuit filed in Houston County Circuit Court in mid-July on behalf of six retirees from Dothan, Alabama and western Florida allege that Daughtry's clients lost their life savings due to securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligence. The suit also names as defendants Kestra Investment Services, Equity Trust Company, Graysail Advisors, Small World Capital, Davis Smalls (Jacksonville, FL) and Jared Eakes.
The suit alleges that Daughtry, Eakes, and Smalls copied customer signatures from previous documents, pasting them onto other forms with the intent of fraudulently opening accounts in the customers' names at entities such as Equity Trust. Once the funds were deposited with Equity Trust, the suit alleges, they were again transferred to Small World or Graysail.
Prior to his registration with Kestra, Daughtry served as a broker at Ameriprise Financial Services in Dothan, Albama. His other business activities include entities known as The Daughtry Group (a d/b/a for insurance sales), DH Group, LLC, Carmack Drug Company, and James Blake Daughtry, a real estate investment.
If you have invested with James Blake Daughtry or with any broker or financial adviser whose unauthorized trading or fraudulent transactions in your account have proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call an experienced FINRA arbitration attorney at The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.