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By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

A Tyler couple has been awarded $1.3 million for claims that their longtime friend and stockbroker, Brent Steven Lemons, defrauded them of their family savings.

Lemons, the former president of Tyler’s Bank of America, was indicted in March on 19 federal counts of fraud for allegedly swindling more than $400,000 from different victims.

Tyler attorney Bryan Forman represented Tammy Mays and his wife Cindy, who were awarded $1,318,042 by arbitrators for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for their claims against Stevens, who was also a former stockbroker with A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. and Banc of America Investment Services Inc.

“Tammy and Cindy trusted Lemons as their longtime friend and adviser and unfortunately Lemons’ selfish and culpable conduct cost them the money that was intended to help them take care of their family and their children for many, many years,” Forman said on Thursday.

Forman is representing five or six individuals or families who are former customers of Lemons, and the Mays family was the first one to come up for arbitration. He said Lemons did not show for the April 1 hearing in Dallas, but they proceeded without him and put on their case. He said it generally takes about a month to receive news of what the arbitration panel has awarded after the hearing.

Forman said he couldn’t comment on the ongoing litigation of his other clients, but said, “I think there are probably others out there” in addition to his clients who claim they were defrauded by Lemons.

The Mays, who filed their claim in February 2007, claimed Lemons, their former broker, committed fraud in connection with his handling of their brokerage and bank accounts, that Lemons misappropriated their funds for his own personal benefit, breached his fiduciary duties owed to the Mays and violated numerous securities industry rules, Forman said.

The Mays, formerly of Palestine, who now live in Tyler, entrusted all of their money to Lemons, who failed to advise them about the risks in their accounts, lied about the true value of the accounts and invested their money in risky investments without their approval, Forman said, adding that Lemons also used the Mays’ funds for his own personal benefit.

The arbitration panel found that Lemons’ conduct amounted to common law fraud and statutory fraud.

Lemons was ordered to pay $790,825 to the claimants for compensatory damages and $527,216 in attorney’s fees. The panel of arbitrators also assessed $7,400 in hearing session fees, according to the “Award FINRA Dispute Resolution.”

A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. and Banc of America Investment Services Inc. were originally named in the dispute, but the Mays dismissed their claims against the companies this year.

Lemons, 51, was indicted by a Tyler federal grand jury March 4 for five counts of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, five counts of misapplication of funds by a bank employee, one count of interstate transport of stolen funds and seven counts of conducting transactions with criminally derived funds. He remains out of jail on bond while awaiting trial.

The indictment claims that from May 2005 through March 2007, Lemons abused his position — as president of the Bank of America Tyler market and senior vice president of investments and financial adviser at Banc of America Investment Services — by misapplying a client’s funds without her knowledge or consent. Over the two-year period, Lemons allegedly stole $408,838 from Venna C. Davis Stubbs.

The government is seeking forfeiture of $1.55 million in cash proceeds, including any interest earned, or any of Lemons’ property that is valued at that amount. If convicted, Lemons faces up to 30 years in prison for each of the bank fraud counts, and wire fraud and misapplication of funds charges; and up to 10 years for each of the counts of transactions with criminally derived property and interstate transportation of stolen money.

Lemons was named president of Bank of America’s Tyler market in September 2005. He worked as a full service financial adviser for Banc of America Investment Services Inc. since 2004. Before joining Bank of America, Lemons was an investment adviser for 22 years in A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. and became manager of its Tyler offices in 1997.