HOUSTON, July 30, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lawyers with the Securities Law Firm of Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP, www.sseklaw.com, have recently filed a claim on behalf of a client involving Theresa Badgett ("Badgett"), Badgett Tax and Financial Services, and BrokersXpress, Inc. ("BrokersXpress"). According to the claim, the client met Badgett through her company, Badgett Tax and Financial Services and initially retained Badgett's services as a tax preparer. Badgett then allegedly convinced the client to transfer the entirety of his life savings to Badgett to manage as a broker in a safe and conservative manner in order to provide income to the newly retired client.
The claim alleges that Badgett, instead of investing the money in suitable, low risk, income bearing investments, actually took complete control over the account and embarked upon a wholly speculative, incredibly high risk trading strategy, losing a substantial portion of the client's life savings in a matter of months. The investments described in the complaint as selected by Badgett include securities based upon the Chinese real estate market, leveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs) based upon the energy market, and securities based upon the S&P Volatility Index (VIX). All of these securities carry very high risks of loss, none of which were appropriate for the client, according to the complaint.
Typically, when a broker engages in wholly inappropriate trading with one of their clients, there are many other clients who were mistreated, misled, or otherwise hurt without even realizing it. As such, people who currently or in the past have held brokerage accounts with Theresa Badgett or Badgett Tax and Financial Services should carefully review their accounts to ensure that there were not problems. If you are or were a client of Theresa Badgett or Badgett Tax and Financial Services, contact the law firm of Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas LLP for an evaluation of your account to determine if you might have a claim to attempt to recover some or all of your losses. All communications will be kept strictly confidential, and you will not be billed in any way for a consultation.
Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP has a team of attorneys, consultants and staff with more than 100 years of combined experience in the securities industry and in securities law. For more than two decades, our firm has represented thousands of investors nationwide to recover losses. We have represented clients in Federal and state courts and in arbitration through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the New York Stock Exchange Inc. (NYSE), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and in private arbitration actions.