Investor Alert: Former Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. and Cetera Advisors, LLC Financial Advisor Abraham Heimann

Erez Law is currently investigating former Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. and Cetera Advisors, LLC financial advisor Abraham Heimann (CRD# 1315922) regarding unsuitability and unauthorized trades. Heimann was registered with Cetera Advisors in Alpharetta, Georgia from 2013 to 2016 and with Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia from 2002 to 2013. Heimann is not registered with any brokerage firm at this time.

Heimann has been the subject of one customer complaint in January 2017, according to his CRD report. The claim involves a 93-year-old client who is seeking $876,195 in damages from recommendations made by Heimann. The claimant alleges that from February 2009 to July 2013, Heimann made unsuitable trades. The claims against Heimann in this case include: unsuitability, unauthorized trading when the client was hospitalized for extended periods of time, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and misrepresentation regarding the client’s account.

Additionally, the claim alleges that Heimann over concentrated the elderly customer’s account in the volatile energy sector. Overconcentration is one of the most risky strategies for securities, occurring when a broker invests a large percentage of an account in one security, one sector of the economy (such as the energy sector), or one type of investment. Investments included Miller Energy, FX Energy and Seadrill, among many other energy sector investments.

Miller Energy is a Knoxville, Tennessee-based company has some economic trouble surrounding the recession of 2008, followed by expansion and a bump in oil prices in 2009 and 2010, and a decline when global oil prices dipped in 2014 and 2015. They filed for bankruptcy in October 2015 wiping out $215,547,717 of debt, following allegations of accounting fraud, an Alaskan property with deceptive high reported revenue and output expectations, and a Securities and Exchange Commission probe into its trading.

FX Energy, Inc. was an independent oil and gas exploration and production company with production in the US and Poland. FX Energy entered into a merger agreement with ORLEN Upstream in October 2015. Stockholders of FX Energy stock received $1.15 per share in cash, a 22% premium over the average closing price for the company’s stock.

Seadrill is an offshore drilling contractor that operates from five regional offices around the world – Oslo, Dubai, Houston, Rio De Janeiro and Ciudad del Carmen. The company once was valued at $23.7 billion but with the decline in oil prices, Seadrill is now worth about $398 million with liabilities that exceed its current assets by nearly double. As of April 2017, Seadrill is on the brink of bankruptcy and in the process of a restructuring plan. The stock currently trades for $0.74 a share on the New York Stock Exchange.

Pursuant to FINRA Rules, member firms are responsible for supervising a broker’s activities during the time the broker is registered with the firm. Therefore, Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. and Cetera Advisors, LLC may be liable for investment or other losses suffered by Heimann’s customers.

Erez Law represents investors in the United States for claims against former Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. and Cetera Advisors, LLC financial advisor Abraham Heimann, who is alleged to make unsuitable recommendations and unauthorized trades in customer accounts. If you were a client of former Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. and Cetera Advisors, LLC financial advisor Abraham Heimann or another firm, and have experienced investment losses, please call us at 888-840-1571 or complete our contact form for a free consultation. Erez Law is a nationally recognized law firm representing individuals, trusts, corporations and institutions in claims against brokerage firms, banks and insurance companies on a contingency fee basis.

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Author: Jeffrey Erez

The founder of Erez Law, Jeffrey Erez, focuses exclusively on securities arbitration and litigation. Mr. Erez passionately believes in representing aggrieved investors and obtaining justice for his clients through litigation.