Brokerage house and its founder sued for negligence

Firm that listed accused Brentwood embezzler as agent accused of negligence; former employee whose mother lost a half million also listed in complaint

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

Michael J. Park

The brokerage firm that had accused Brentwood embezzler Michael J. Park listed as its agent has been sued for negligence. Also named in the suit is the brokerage firm's parent company, its founder, and a former Park employee.

William H. "Chip' Corley, Jr., of Lake Worth, Fla.; 1DB Financial Inc.; and its wholly owned subsidiary 1st Discount Brokerage, Inc.; and Donna L. Jones of Burns have all been hit with the lawsuit in Williamson County Chancery Court.

The suit says Corley is the "primary shareholder and control person" of both 1DB Financial and 1st Discount Brokerage. Jones was an employee of Park's at the Brentwood branch of 1st Discount and employed by Park.

She is accused of facilitating Park's financial schemes that have cost investors an estimated $20 million. Jones' own mother is listed as a creditor of Park's, being owed a sum of $500,000.

The lawsuit was filed by Brentwood businessman Raymond L. "Skip" Jackson, his wife Maurgreita J. "Janie" Jackson, and James D. Duff of Roane County on behalf of their children who lost their college funds when Park declared bankruptcy. A similar suit was filed two weeks ago in Nashville's federal court.

The Jackson and Duff complaint details the families' investments with Park, both through 529 college savings plans as well as traditional retail accounts. In all, the plaintiffs say they sent almost $4.3 million to Park.

According to the suit, the brokerage house was negligent in licensing Park and listing him as its "agent" given Park's dubious past. The suit states that Park had been dismissed from two brokerage firms for affixing a client's signature to a document without permission and receiving loans from clients with the consent of his employer.

The plaintiffs also point to four settlements – totaling about $125,000 – stemming from complaints about Parks trading activity, including excessive commissions and "unsuitable churning and margin interests" and cites federal regulators' files showing that Park pleaded guilty to a 1989 misdemeanor shoplifting charge at the now defunct Tower Records on West End Avenue.

Jones is named in the lawsuit as having "conspired to and in fact misappropriated and converted funds" from investors.

To download the Jackson-Duff suit, click here. (Note: The file is 13 MB.)