Founded in 1968, Capital Analysts Incorporated was one of the first financial planning broker-dealers in the country. Capital Analysts Incorporated was a business partner to independent financial advisors and became a member of Western & Southern Financial Group in 1992. A full-service company, Capital Analysts operated with its headquarters in Cincinnati, OH. Western & Southern Financial Group sold Capital Analysts Inc. to Lincoln Investment Planning Inc. in 2012, merging the two companies both in assets and representatives.
All broker-dealer service providers are required by law to oversee the activities of their representatives. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) holds all investment companies liable for the actions of their broker-dealers. When an individual broker is behaving in a way that is unethical, dishonest, or violates financial industry regulations, and it results in client losses or damages, then the victim may hold the whole corporation liable for those losses. If you have lost assets due to the negligent or unethical actions of a Capital Analysts Inc. broker-dealer, you are within your rights to demand that Capital Analysts Inc. (or its new owner, Lincoln Investment Planning Inc.) repay the damages.
Only two years before Capital Analysts’ sale of its assets, one of their licensed investment brokers named Kenneth Wayne McLeod was discovered to have stolen over $30 million from about 150 federal employees in a massive Ponzi scheme. The scheme itself was years-long, and robbed federal employees of life savings, college funds, and inheritances. While some of his investors pulled their money out early, the nature of a Ponzi scheme means that most investors were robbed. Sadly, when McLeod was discovered, he killed himself before being brought to justice.
This story, like many others, reflects a hard truth about investment fraud: receiving your assets back from a fraudulent broker may not only be difficult – it may be impossible without the right help. Fraud sometimes results in your money being already gone by the time unethical action is discovered. That’s why FINRA regulations are so important for investor protection. By holding the company liable, the law ensures that victims have the opportunity to recover what they’ve lost.
Investment fraud attorneys at Meyer Wilson have the experience to win back what is rightfully yours. Our firm is entirely focused on investment fraud, meaning we employ lawyers who practice in one field exclusively with focus and knowledge. Our aim for each one of our approximately 1,000 clients is to recover their losses under the fullest extent of the law. We recovered over $350 million for our clients. We practice nationwide, with clients here and internationally who have claims against US investment companies. Our firm practices in federal and state courts, as well as in arbitration with FINRA and the American Arbitration Association.
