SoCal Persian Radio KIRN 670 AM personality and Barouti Financial investment adviser Tony Barouti of Emerson Equity and Barouti Financial (Los Angeles)'s name is the latest to appear in the conversation surrounding the unsuitable, illiquid, risky, and complex investments known as GWG Holdings L Bonds, which in January suspended interest and other payments to investors while careening toward default.
In December 2021, FINRA sanctioned Emerson Equity and its CEO and owner Dominic Julio Baldini for a series of supervisory failures and deficient supervision pertaining to short-term mutual fund trading that caused customers to incur more than $1.6 million in unnecessary charges.
Through further investigation, Emerson Equity's name became associated with potentially unsuitable recommendations and sales of GWG Holdings L Bonds as a firm that aggressively marketed the product to clients. Visit this article (link) for more information and explanation as to the GWG L Bond's technical features and why its risk, complexity, and lack of liquidity renders this product unsuitable for many retail investors.
Through further research into Emerson Equity, headquartered in San Mateo, California, Tony Barouti aka Ahman Agha Barouti (CRD #3031995)'s name surfaced as a broker who may have unsuitably recommended and sold GWG Holdings L Bonds or shares of GWG's stock (NASDAQ: GWGH) to investors whose risk tolerance preferences and investment objectives would have generally disqualified such a complex and risky product from consideration.
According to its website, Barouti Financial's locations include its main office in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, and branches located in Glendale, Irvine, San Diego, and Woodland Hills.
This isn't the first time a financial adviser featured on KIRN radio as an industry expert has come under scrutiny. In 2016, FINRA suspended former LPL Financial and Royal Alliance Associates (Beverly Hills, CA) broker Angelo Talebi (CRD #2243829) on the heels of multiple customer complaints that accused Talebi of unsuitable and excessive trading, misrepresentation, and negligence. Talebi preceded Barouti as one of KIRN's spotlighted financial advisers.
Talebi last served as a broker at Independent Financial Group (IFG) in Sherman Oaks shortly after FINRA's sanctions and has served as a registered representative since then. In all, Talebi's 38 disclosures including a series of customer disputes resulted in approximately $2 million in settlements.
If you invested with Tony Barouti, formerly of Emerson Equity, or any broker or financial adviser who recommended you purchase GWG Holdings L Bond products and you suffered losses or other damages as GWG suspended payments to investors and headed toward default, 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.