Jason Tarver: $5 Million Complaint Against Merrill Lynch Rep

Frisco, Texas-based broker and investment adviser Jason Tarver (CRD#: 2569913) has received a pending customer complaint alleging that he caused $5 million in damages for the investor. According to records provided by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Tarver is currently a representative of Merrill Lynch.

Jason Tarver’s BrokerCheck report lists one pending customer complaint against him. Filed in December 2020, the complaint alleges that as a representative of Merrill Lynch, William Donovan executed an “unsuitable investment strategy when a line of credit was opened and inappropriately leveraged against annuities.” The complaint additionally alleged that the claimant “did not authorize the opening of the line of credit, as well as multiple wire transfers initiated by her then husband,” and that her husband forged her signature on account opening documents. The pending complaint alleges damages of $5,173,597.57.

Jason Tarver’s current member firm, Merrill Lynch, has itself received 873 customer complaints that ended in awards to the investor, according to the firm’s BrokerCheck report. A complaint filed in 2017, for instance, alleged the firm breached its fiduciary duty, committed fraud, engaged in manipulation, misrepresented and omitted material facts, recommended unsuitable investments, breached contract, failed in his supervisory duties, and acted negligently; the complaint ended in a 2020 award to the customer of $1,830,532.93. A complaint filed in 2018 alleged the firm breached his fiduciary duty, misrepresented and omitted material facts, failed in its supervisory duties, acted negligently, executed unauthorized trades, and made erroneous charges; the complaint ended in a 2019 award to the customer of $330,000.

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that Jason Tarver has been registered with Merrill Lynch in Frisco, Texas since 1996. He has no prior registrations. He has passed four securities industry qualifying examinations: the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, or Series 65; 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 holds 39 state securities registrations and ten self-regulatory organizations, including: Cboe BYX Exchange, Cboe EDGX Exchange, FINRA, Investors’ Exchange, Nasdaq PHLX, the Nasdaq Stock Market, and the New York Stock Exchange. (Information current as of June 7, 2021.)