Dain Stokes

On June 25, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released an Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings and Notice of Hearing after accepting an Offer of Settlement from Dain Stokes barring him from associating with any broker dealer, investment adviser, or other registered position related to the securities industry.

Stokes was most recently associated with LPL Financial LLC in Bedford, New Hampshire from June 2009 to September 2019. According to the employment separation disclosure on his FINRA BrokerCheck report, LPL Financial terminated his position with the firm after the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation suspended his broker-dealer representative license in connection with a police report filed by one of Stoke’s clients that alleged fraud relating to a $201,000 investment project.

According a Petition for Relief by the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation, Stokes solicited $576,000 from three long-time LPL Financial clients between 2018 and 2019 by falsely stating that their funds would be invested in an investment project in Africa that earned 20% return in 90 days. The Petition alleges that Stokes used a portion of the investor’s funds for personal expenses and sent the remaining funds to various people and entities across the country.

On November 14, 2019, the New Hampshire Department of State Bureau of Securities Regulation issued a Cease and Desist, permanently barred him from any securities licensures in New Hampshire and ordered him to pay restitution of $567,000 and pay a $20,000 administrative fine.

Consequently, the SEC barred Stokes from associating with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal advisor, municipal securities dealer, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization and barred him from participating in any penny stock offering.