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Government Actions

DFPI vs PV Wealth Advisors LLC

The Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation (Commissioner) and Respondents Christopher Leach (Leach) and Daniel Cunningham (Cunningham) (Respondents) enter into this Consent Order with respect to the following facts: 

At all relevant times, PV Wealth Advisors, LLC (PV Wealth) is and was a California limited liability company, formed on March 27, 2015. PV Wealth’s principal business address 30021 Avenida Esplendida, Rancho Palos Verdes, California 90275. At all relevant times, Daniel Cunningham (Cunningham), a resident of Los Angeles County, California, is and was PV Wealth’s sole owner and CEO. At all relevant times, Christopher Leach (CRD No. 5604046) (Leach), a resident of Los Angeles County, California, is and was working for PV Wealth, including meeting with clients and soliciting prospective clients. At all relevant times, PV Wealth never held a broker-dealer certificate nor an investment adviser certificate, pursuant to sections 25210 and 25230, nor were Cunningham or Leach registered representatives of any licensed broker-dealer at any time.

During the period of March 2015 through January 2018, PV Wealth, Cunningham, and Leach engaged in the business of effecting transactions in securities, in California, for the accounts of others. In connection with effecting transactions in securities, PV Wealth, Cunningham, and Leach engaged in the following manipulative, deceptive or other fraudulent schemes, including:   

1. Impersonating a client, in order to attempt to remove trading restrictions on a client’s account, from the custodian of the brokerage account, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab). 
2. Impersonating a client, by using the client’s username and password, in order to trade in the client’s brokerage account, held at Schwab. 
3. Instructing the client to lie to Schwab, the custodian of the brokerage account, to obtain option trading approval. 
4. Providing false information on a client’s account application to obtain option trading approval from Schwab, the custodian of the brokerage account. 
5. Instructing a client to shred documents from Schwab, the custodian of the brokerage account. 
6. Instructing the client to ignore the letters from Schwab, the custodian of the brokerage account, because according to Cunningham, Schwab was “wrong.”   
7. Telling the client “You are gaining about a thousand dollars a day. He [Cunningham] is being very conservative with you,” when in fact, the client lost 46% of her portfolio. 

In connection with the offers and sales of securities, PV Wealth, Cunningham, and Leach made, or caused to be made, misrepresentations of material fact or omissions of material fact, to investors and potential investors, including that:   

1. Respondents would invest the portfolio conservatively to hedge risk and generate revenue. In fact, Respondents invested the client’s portfolio in highly speculative securities with significant risk. 
2. Cunningham touted himself as having extensive knowledge in trading stocks, including 20 years of trading experience and that he averaged around 1,000 trades per year, with about $20,000.00 per transaction. In fact, Cunningham later admitted that prior to 2014, he did not even know how to open a brokerage account, let alone trade. 
3. Cunningham touted himself as having extensive knowledge in trading options, including 4 years of trading experience and that he averaged around 500 option trades per year, with about $10,000.00 per transaction. In fact, Cunningham later admitted that prior to 2014, he did not even know how to open a brokerage account, let alone trade. In addition, Leach indicated that his own knowledge and experience about options was “little to none.” 
4. Leach was an investment adviser representative. In fact, at the time of such representation, he was not registered as an investment adviser representative.
5. Leach promised that the client would never lose her “Nest Egg.” In fact, the Respondents directly caused the client’s portfolio to lose 47% of its value. 
6. Respondents failed to disclose any risks associated with Options. 
7. Respondents failed to disclose that they were not registered as either a broker-dealer or an investment adviser. 

The Commissioner’s own investigation revealed the following: PV Wealth, Cunningham, and Leach engaged in the business of effecting transactions in securities in the account of others in California, during the period of March 2015 through January 2018, in violation of section 25210; PV Wealth, Cunningham, and Leach engaged in at least seven different manipulative, deceptive, or other fraudulent schemes, in violation of Section 25216; made material misrepresentations or omissions in connection with the offer or sale of securities in California, in violation of section 25401; and that Leach provided substantial assistance to Cunningham in carrying out.

The Commissioner therefore finds that cause exists, under sections 25232.1 and 25232 (e); that it is for the protection of investors and that it is in the public interest, to issue an order barring bar Cunningham and Leach from any position of employment, management, or control of any investment adviser, broker-dealer, or commodity adviser, any officer, director, partner, employee of, or person performing similar functions for, an investment adviser, or any other person. 

PV Wealth, by entering into this Consent Order, neither admits nor denies that he has violated any California law or regulation. Cunningham, by entering into this Consent Order, neither admits nor denies that he has violated any California law or regulation. Leach, by entering into this Consent Order, neither admits nor denies that he has violated any California law or regulation. 

The Commissioner hereby orders that Leach (CRD No. 5604046) be suspended from any position of employment, management, or control of any investment adviser, broker-dealer, or commodity adviser, any officer, director, partner, employee of, or person performing similar functions for, an investment adviser, or any other person for a period of 24 months. Respondents agree to pay to the Commissioner an administrative penalty in the amount of $85,000.00 (Penalty) as follows: one payment of forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000.00) due on or before October 1, 2024; and eight equal payments of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), made on a quarterly basis, on or before the first days of the months of December, March, June, and September, commencing on December 1, 2024, and the final payment is due on September 1, 2026. 

Licensing

On 11/01/2018 the 1-Secretary of State-Corp, LLC, Notary suspended the license of PV Wealth Advisors LLC. BBB encourages you to contact the following agency or agencies to confirm this information: - https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business - 9166536814