1st Financial Advisor Heath Goldstein Has GWG, REIT Complaints

Clark’s Summit, Pennsylvania financial advisor Heath Goldstein (CRD# 2147679) allegedly recommended unsuitable GWG L bonds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), oil and gas securities, and other investments, according to investor complaints. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that he is a representative of Western International Securities, doing business as 1st Financial Investments.

The most recent investor complaint disclosed on Mr. Goldstein’s BrokerCheck report was filed in June 2022. It alleges that as a representative of Western International Securities and 1st Financial Investments, he breached his fiduciary duty and committed fraud in connection to investments in GWG Preferred Stock. The pending complaint alleges damages of $129,209.82. In a comment on the disclosure, states that the claim “is of no merit” and notes that he was not named as a respondent in it.

A similar complaint, filed in April 2022, also alleged that Mr. Goldstein sold an investment in GWG Holdings L bonds “as a very safe investment.” The customer sought $100,000 in the complaint, which was closed.

Mr. Goldstein’s BrokerCheck report discloses three investor complaints that reached settlements. The most recent, filed in 2019, alleged unsuitable investment recommendations involving real estate securities and fixed annuities, fraud, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty. The complaint reached a settlement of $38,199.99. In a statement on the complaint’s disclosure, Mr. Goldstein wrote that the claim “has absolutely no merit.” 

A complaint filed in 2018 alleged the misrepresentation and recommendation of unsuitable oil and gas investments. The complaint reached a settlement of $51,500. In a statement on the disclosure, Mr. Goldstein said he “had absolutely no involvement” in selling any of the products at issue in the complaint, and that his involvement with the claimant “was merely administrative and filling out the paperwork.”

A third investor complaint, filed in 2017, alleged breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligence, breach of contract, and violations of Pennsylvania and federal securities law. The complaint reached a settlement of $15,000. In a statement on the disclosure, Mr. Goldstein said that he “was not the Registered Rep of Record when any of these securities products were sold.”

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Heath Goldstein holds 21 years of securities industry experience. Based in Clark’s Summit, Pennsylvania, he has been a representative of Western International Securities since 2016, doing business as 1st Financial Investments. His past registrations include Calton & Associates (Clark’s Summit, Pennsylvania; 2014-2016), Kalos Capital (Clark’s Summit, Pennsylvania; 2011-2014), WFG Investments (Clark’s Summit, Pennsylvania; 2011), Berthel Fisher & Company Financial Services (Clark’s Summit, Pennsylvania; 2004-2011), Midsouth Capital (Atlanta, Georgia; 2003-2004), PFS Investments (Duluth, Georgia; 1996-1997), Merrill Lynch (New York, New York; 1993-1994), and Prudential Securities (New York, New York; 1993). His credentials include the passage of six securities industry qualifying exams: the General Securities Principal Examination, or Series 24; the Assistant Representative-Order Processing Qualification Exam, or Series 11; the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63; and the Uniform Combined State Law Examination, or Series 66. He is licensed in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas. (Information current as of June 8, 2022.)

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