SEC Investigates Cola Wealth’s Atul Makharia

Lexington, South Carolina financial advisor Atul Makharia (CRD# 5070762) is the recipient of multiple investor complaints alleging he recommended unsuitable, high-risk investments. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that the Centaurus Financial broker, doing business as Cola Wealth Advisors, is also under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Makharia’s BrokerCheck report discloses multiple investor complaints. The most recent, filed in September 2022, alleges he “misrepresented unsuitable, high-risk, speculative and illiquid investments” while a representative of Centaurus Financial. The pending complaint alleges unspecified damages.

Eight additional investor complaints disclosed in Mr. Makharia’s BrokerCheck report detail similar allegations, including that he sold unsuitable investments, misrepresented investments, and/or breached his fiduciary duty. Filed between 2018 and 2020, the complaints settled for a cumulative sum of more than $250,000.

In June 2022 the Securities and Exchange Commission sent Mr. Makharia a letter notifying him of its intent to bring charges against him alleging that he violated securities laws in connection with the sales of curve steepeners. The action remains pending.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Atul Makharia holds 16 years of securities industry experience. Based in Lexington, South Carolina, he has been a broker with Centaurus Financial since 2015, doing business as Cola Wealth Advisors since 2019. His past registrations include JP Turner & Company (Lexington, South Carolina; 2010-2015), Gunnallen Financial (Lexington, South Carolina; 2008-2010), and First Allied Securities (Lexington, South Carolina; 2005-2008). His credentials include the passage of three securities industry qualifying exams: the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; and the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63. He is licensed in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. (Information current as of October 19, 2022.)

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