Lonna Dehn Ristvedt

On October 9, 2020, Lonna Dehn Ristvedt consented to sanctions imposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Department of Enforcement to resolve allegations of engaging in four private securities transactions (PSTs) without prior disclosure to or approval from her member firm, National Planning Corporation.

Ristvedt was associated with National Planning Corporation in Fargo, North Dakota from July 2010 to November 2017 as an Investment Company and Variable Contracts Products Representative and Principal. She then became associated with LPL Financial LLC, also in Fargo, from November 2017 to November 2019.

According to the Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC), Ristvedt solicited investors to purchase securities in Future Income Payments, LLC (FIP) in June 2015. The company represented itself as a structured cash flow investment in which they purchased pensions at a discount and sold portions of those pensions as a “pension stream” to investors, promising a 7% or 8% ROI rate. Ristvedt sold $163,320 in FIP purchase agreements to two customers and received $5,457.66 in commissions. National Planning Corporation prohibited its registered representatives from participating in PSTs without prior written approval. FINRA alleges that Ristvedt did not provide notice or obtain approval for the PSTs.

In April 2018, FIP ceased business even though the company owed $300 million in unpaid investor payments. FIP’s owner, Scott A. Kohn, was charged in federal court with conspiracy to engage in mail and wire fraud.

Without admitting or denying wrongdoing, Ristvedt consented to a four-month suspension from association with any FINRA member in any capacity and a $5,000 fine.