ATTENTION: REIT Investors Doing Business With Megurditch Mike Patatian

Megurditch Mike Patatian (CRD #4047060, Granada Hills, California) February 26, 2021 – Patatian was named a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that he made recommendations to customers to purchase non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) that were unsuitable because he lacked a reasonable basis to recommend the product to any investor. The complaint alleges that Patatian did not understand the basic features and risks associated with the non-traded REITs and failed to conduct reasonable diligence to understand the product. Some of Patatian’s customers also had liquidity concerns and thus his recommendation to purchase illiquid, non-traded REITs was further unsuitable due to each customer’s specific situation and needs. The complaint also alleges that Patatian caused customers to incur taxes and surrender fees by recommending that the customers surrender existing variable annuity policies when he failed to understand the adverse financial consequences of the surrenders. The complaint further alleges that Patatian recommended variable annuity exchanges that were unsuitable because he failed to understand the consequences of those exchanges, including the increased cost of the new variable annuities and the fact that a return of premium death benefit was not a standard feature of all variable annuities. In addition, the complaint alleges that without a customer’s knowledge or consent, Patatian impersonated the customer in a telephone call with an insurance company to obtain the contract value and surrender fee for the variable annuity. Moreover, the complaint alleges that Patatian recorded inaccurate customer information on his member firm’s customer account and disclosure forms, including by overstating customers’ net worth and exaggerating customers’ years of investment experience. (FINRA Case #2018057235801). Patatian has been associated with the following firms: SUPREME ALLIANCE LLC (CRD# 45348), WESTERN INTERNATIONAL SECURITIES, INC. (CRD# 39262) and CUSO FINANCIAL SERVICES, L.P. (CRD# 42132). For a copy of the FINRA complaint See, https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/oversight-enforcement/finra-disciplinary-actions?search=2018057235801.