Charles Blatz: $1.5MM Complaint Against Red Bank Rep

Charles Blatz (CRD# 706158), a broker and investment adviser registered with Benjamin F. Edwards & Company recently received a pending customer complaint alleging losses of more than $1 million. Blatz is currently based in Red Bank, New Jersey and has several other customer complaints listed in records provided by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Charles Blatz’s BrokerCheck report describes three customer complaints against him that settled and one that remains pending. In reverse chronological order:

An April 2021 complaint alleges that as a representative of Benjamin F. Edwards & Company, Charles Blatz violated federal anti-fraud provisions of securities statutes, executed an unsuitable trading strategy, committed common law and statutory fraud, breached his fiduciary duty to put the investor’s interests above his own, and breached contract with regard to penny stock trades, margin use, and “unauthorized options trading” from 2015 to 2020. The pending complaint alleges damages of $1.5 million.

A 1997 complaint alleged that as a representative of A.G. Edwards, Charles Blatz recommended unsuitable investments, made trades without authorization, churned investments, and misrepresented material facts. The complaint reached a settlement of $32,500.

A 1982 complaint alleged that as a representative of Merrill Lynch, he made an unauthorized options trade. The complaint reached a settlement of $10,000.

A 1984 complaint alleged that as a representative of Prudential-Bache, he misrepresented certain stock investments. The complaint reached a settlement of 1984.

Blatz’s FINRA records also state that he was discharged from his position at Merrill Lynch in 1982, in connection to allegations of unauthorized trading.

Charles Blatz has been registered with Benjamin F. Edwards & Company as a broker and investment adviser since 2012, according to FINRA. Before that he was registered with Wells Fargo Advisors in East Brunswick, New Jersey; A.G. Edwards & Sons in East Brunswick, New Jersey; Prudential-Bache Securities in New York, New York; and Merrill Lynch. He has passed three securities industry qualifying examinations: the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; and the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7. He currently holds 28 state securities licenses. (Information current as of June 6, 2021.)