Sonn Law Group is monitoring several recent FINRA BrokerCheck disclosures involving brokers and financial professionals connected to customer disputes over hedge funds, structured notes, exchange-traded notes, DSTs, private placements, variable annuities, and other alternative investment products.

The matters summarized below are based on publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck reports. The allegations reported in BrokerCheck are allegations only. Pending customer disputes have not been proven, and settled, denied, or closed matters may be resolved without any admission or finding of wrongdoing.

Still, these disclosures are useful for investors because they show recurring themes in recent broker and advisor-related investment loss claims: unsuitable alternative investments, lack of due diligence, alleged misrepresentations, overconcentration, complex products, and failure-to-supervise allegations.

1. Robert Lybbert — Hedge Fund Disputes Involving Elite Wealth and Lattice Capital

FINRA BrokerCheck lists Robert Lybbert as not currently registered as a broker. His BrokerCheck report lists 10 customer dispute disclosures, including 5 pending customer disputes and 5 final or closed customer disputes.

The pending disputes generally involve hedge fund investments and allegations connected to Elite Wealth Management, Inc. and/or Lattice Capital Management, LLC. The allegations reported in BrokerCheck include breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, unsuitable investments, failure to act in the customer’s best interest, failure to supervise, breach of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment, and alleged violations of federal and Washington securities laws.

One pending dispute reports alleged damages of $52 million. Another disclosure describes a consolidated JAMS arbitration involving 15 arbitrations and more than 70 claimants seeking approximately $103 million.

(FINRA BrokerCheck: https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/7451138)
(FINRA BrokerCheck PDF: https://files.brokercheck.finra.org/individual/individual_7451138.pdf)

2. Markus Byrd — Kestra Customer Disputes Involving Alternative Investments and Exchange-Traded Notes

FINRA BrokerCheck lists Markus G. Byrd as not currently registered as a broker. His BrokerCheck report lists 7 customer dispute disclosures, including 2 pending customer disputes and 5 final customer disputes.

The disclosures include allegations involving alternative investments, Direct Investment-DPP & LP Interests, and exchange-traded notes. One pending dispute alleges that Byrd exercised discretionary authority in customer accounts to purchase an exchange-traded note, that the recommendation was unsuitable, that the position was held longer than the claimants believe was appropriate, and that certain statements about the investment’s characteristics and performance were inaccurate.

BrokerCheck also reports prior settled customer disputes involving exchange-traded notes and alternative investments, including settlements reported at $3.3 million and $705,000.

(FINRA BrokerCheck: https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/2177376)
(FINRA BrokerCheck PDF: https://files.brokercheck.finra.org/individual/individual_2177376.pdf)

3. Roger Roemmich — Alexander Capital, Private Placements, Oil & Gas, and Alternative Investment Disputes

FINRA BrokerCheck lists Roger Allan Roemmich as not currently registered as a broker. His BrokerCheck report lists 1 regulatory event, 6 customer dispute disclosures, 2 termination disclosures, and 1 judgment/lien disclosure.

According to BrokerCheck, FINRA permanently barred Roemmich in March 2026 after he consented, without admitting or denying the findings, to sanctions and findings that he refused to produce information and documents requested by FINRA during its review of a customer arbitration.

The customer disputes reported in BrokerCheck include allegations involving private placements, oil and gas investments, real estate securities, Direct Investment-DPP & LP Interests, and alternative investments. One pending dispute involving Alexander Capital reports alleged damages of $1.735 million and includes allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting, negligent misrepresentation, failure to supervise, and violation of Georgia statutes.

Other pending disclosures report alleged damages of $1 million, $7.5 million, $1.2 million, and $100,001.

(FINRA BrokerCheck: https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/1293322)
(FINRA BrokerCheck PDF: https://files.brokercheck.finra.org/individual/individual_1293322.pdf)

4. Carmen Morrone — Realta Equities Customer Disputes Involving DSTs and Alternative Investments

FINRA BrokerCheck lists Carmen Dean Morrone as currently registered with Realta Equities, Inc. His BrokerCheck report lists 4 customer dispute disclosures, including 3 pending customer disputes and 1 final or denied customer dispute.

The pending disputes involve Realta Equities and allegations of failure of due diligence and disclosure. Two pending disputes list the product type as DST, or Delaware Statutory Trust. Alleged damages in those matters are listed as $237,816.53 and $1 million. A third pending dispute lists the product type as alternative investments and alleged damages of $561,303.24.

These disclosures are notable because DSTs and private real estate-related investments are often marketed for income, tax planning, or diversification, but they can carry liquidity, valuation, concentration, and suitability risks.

(FINRA BrokerCheck: https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/1898874)
(FINRA BrokerCheck PDF: https://files.brokercheck.finra.org/individual/individual_1898874.pdf)

5. William Chan — Citigroup Customer Dispute Involving Structured Notes

FINRA BrokerCheck lists William Shyan Chan as currently registered with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. His BrokerCheck report lists 2 customer dispute disclosures, including 1 pending customer dispute and 1 final or denied customer dispute.

The pending dispute involving Citigroup Global Markets alleges unsuitability, violations of California’s Blue Sky law, negligence, failure to supervise, failure to act in the claimant’s best interest, use of manipulative, deceptive, or other fraudulent devices, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract.

The product type is listed as structured notes. Alleged damages are listed as $550,000.

Structured notes can be complex products. Depending on the terms, they may expose investors to market risk, issuer risk, liquidity limitations, capped upside, downside exposure, and product features that may be difficult for retail investors to fully understand.

(FINRA BrokerCheck: https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/3103541)
(FINRA BrokerCheck PDF: https://files.brokercheck.finra.org/individual/individual_3103541.pdf)

6. Stephen Meskan — Cabot Lodge Customer Disputes Involving UITs, Variable Annuities, Mutual Funds, and Private Placements

FINRA BrokerCheck lists Stephen Pavey Meskan as currently registered with Cabot Lodge Securities LLC and CL Wealth Management LLC. His BrokerCheck report lists 4 customer dispute disclosures, 1 termination disclosure, and 7 judgment/lien disclosures.

The report lists 2 pending customer disputes and 2 final customer disputes. The pending matters involve Cabot Lodge Securities and allegations of violations of the Wisconsin Uniform Securities Act, fraud/negligent misrepresentation, and negligence involving various investment products purchased from 2019 to 2025.

The product types listed include variable annuities, mutual funds, unit investment trusts, and private placements. Each pending matter reports alleged damages of $250,000.

(FINRA BrokerCheck: https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/2001506)
(FINRA BrokerCheck PDF: https://files.brokercheck.finra.org/individual/individual_2001506.pdf)

Key Themes Emerging From These BrokerCheck Disclosures

Several patterns appear across these recent BrokerCheck reports.

First, many of the reported disputes involve complex or alternative investment products, including hedge funds, private placements, DSTs, structured notes, exchange-traded notes, DPPs, LP interests, variable annuities, and UITs.

Second, several disclosures involve allegations of unsuitable investment recommendations, lack of due diligence, misrepresentations or omissions, and failure to supervise.

Third, the disclosures show how investor losses may arise in products that are not simple stocks or bonds. Alternative investments and complex structured products may carry risks that are difficult for investors to evaluate without clear disclosures, careful suitability review, and proper supervision by the brokerage firm.

Finally, the size of several of the alleged damages claims shows why investors should take customer dispute disclosures seriously. While allegations are not findings of wrongdoing, they can signal issues that may warrant a closer review of an investor’s account history, risk profile, product concentration, and communications with the broker or advisor.

What Investors Should Do

Investors who suffered losses in hedge funds, private placements, structured notes, DSTs, exchange-traded notes, variable annuities, unit investment trusts, or other alternative investments should carefully review their account records.

Important documents may include:

• Account statements;
• Subscription agreements;
• Risk disclosure documents;
• Private placement memoranda;
• Structured note term sheets;
• Emails and text messages with the broker or advisor;
• Notes from meetings or calls;
• New account forms and risk-tolerance documents.

Sonn Law Group represents investors in claims involving unsuitable investments, broker misconduct, investment adviser misconduct, structured note losses, private placement losses, hedge fund losses, DST losses, and failure-to-supervise claims.

Investors who believe they were placed into unsuitable or misrepresented investments may contact Sonn Law Group to discuss potential recovery options.