Hammonds was named as a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that he fraudulently induced member firm customers and other individuals to liquidate their accounts and invest in excess of $1 million in a Ponzi scheme. The complaint alleges that rather than investing the money he received from customers and investors in securities or futures contracts as he represented, Hammonds misappropriated the customers’ and investors’ funds, using the funds to pay for personal expenses as well as to pay investors in the Ponzi scheme under the guise that they were receiving returns on their investments. The complaint further alleges that, in furtherance of the scheme to defraud, Hammonds provided customers and investors with fictitious account statements reporting growth in their investments.

(FINRA Case #2008013990501)