Investor Lawyers Blog
On October 11, 2017, Michael Giokas, the founder of Giokas Wealth Advisors, was reportedly arrested on fraud charges. Mr. Giokas’ arrest was the result of an investigation by the FBI Buffalo Office concerning allegations that the Williamsville broker misappropriated $200,000 from one of his clients. At Mr. Giokas’ arraignment before Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Bonanno informed the Judge that the investigation suggests Giokas led his client to believe that the $200,000 would be placed in an investment that would yield 8-9% interest. Instead, according to Attorney Bonanno “… the money was not placed in any investment and was instead spent by the defendant on personal expenses.”
According to publicly-available information as disclosed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), Michael Giokas (CRD# 1398674) has worked in the securities industry for over three decades. Since 1986, he has been affiliated with the following brokerage firms: Cigna Securities, Inc. (CRD# 145) (1986-1987), FSC Securities Corporation (CRD# 7461) (1987-1991), Guardian Investor Services Corporation (CRD# 6635) (1991-1992), Linsco/Private Ledger Corp. (CRD# 6413) (1992-1999), Securities Service Network, Inc. (CRD# 13318) (1999-2001), Comprehensive Asset Management and Servicing, Inc. (CRD# 43814) (2002-2013), and Fortune Financial Services, Inc. (“Fortune Financial”) (CRD# 42150) (2013-2017).
FINRA BrokerCheck indicates that Mr. Giokas is no longer registered as a broker. Further, in May 1991 he was permitted to resign from his employment with FSC Securities following violation of firm policy concerning an insurance related bank account. Mr. Giokas has been the subject of several customer complaints, including two complaints in 2000 and 2001 that were settled.