CBS 5 - KPHO Financial expert's background questioned

Financial expert's background questioned

Bob Grosnoff gets invitations from financial planners all the time, inviting him to wealth seminars.

"What they're trying to do is get clients to invest their money with them," said Grosnoff. "That's the name of the game, bringing in business."

But instead of tossing the mailers out, the Paradise Valley man does a little research.

"I'm an expert witness in financial fraud cases and I'm usually on the side of claimants," said Grosnoff. "I like to get the bad guys off the street."

The latest invitation Grosnoff received was from the Wealth Strategies Advisory Group, run by Vince Annable.

It turns out, Annable has some financial problems of his own.

Grosnoff uncovered seven tax liens.

The wealth manager reportedly owes the IRS more than $400,000.

Annable agreed to meet with CBS 5 at his Scottsdale office to discuss concerns about his financial background.

CBS 5 asked him whether he should be giving financial advice.

"Absolutely," Annable said. "Just because I have a tax lien because we fell behind with our tax obligations due to some health issues that were in our family. We fell behind and the business fell behind, so we got behind."

However, the financial concerns don't stop there.

CBS 5 uncovered at least 16 federal complaints with the company Annable works for, Newbridge Securities. Newbridge Securities has paid out about $1 million in fines dating back to 2003.

The company was accused of charging customers a "handling fee" unrelated to actual transaction costs, not selling bonds at a price that was fair and selling unregistered shares of securities.

CBS 5 asked Annable if the fines were excessive.

"No, I don't think that's excessive at all," said Annable. "Why don't you go look up some of the other names in the industry."

Newbridge Securities President Todd Newton released this statement to CBS 5:

"Significant steps have been taken over the past several years to strengthen our firm's culture of compliance. Further, our firm is steadfastly committed to ensuring that we place our clients' investment objectives and interests first. Changes have been made in the senior management of the firm during this time period to better train our financial advisors and associates. We remain committed to fostering a strong compliance effort and most importantly, a client-first approach in our business activities."

CBS 5 did not find any specific complaints against Annable or any evidence of wrongdoing.

Consumer advocates suggest that potential investors do their homework when it comes to  financial planners, brokers or anyone you plan to invest your money with.

If you are interested in running a background check on a broker or company, simply go to http://www.finra.org/Investors/ToolsCalculators/BrokerCheck/.

You'll be able to type in a name or company, then decide for yourself whether you should do business with them.

Copyright 2012 KPHO (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.