Luke Michael Johnson (CRD #3257008, Scottsdale, Arizona)

July 12, 2023 – Johnson was named a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that he made unsuitable recommendations to customers to purchase more than $2.35 million in illiquid alternative investments. The complaint alleges that Johnson’s recommendations to these customers to purchase illiquid alternative investments were unsuitable in light of the customers’ investment profiles—including the customers’ net worth, liquid net worth, annual income, investment objectives, risk tolerance, and, for senior customers, their ages. Johnson’s recommendations also over-concentrated the customers’ liquid net worth in illiquid and high-risk securities. Johnson earned more than $132,900 in commissions from these recommendations. T he complaint also alleges that Johnson, or his assistants acting at his direction, falsified these customers’ reported net worth and liquid net worth on his member firm’s customer account information forms and the customers’ alternative investment documents, as compared to these customers’ actual net worth and liquid net worth. Johnson, or his assistants acting at his direction, also often falsified these customers’ reported risk tolerance, liquidity needs, annual income, and/or their status as an accredited investor, on the customers’ account information forms, on the customers’ subscription agreements, and on the firm’s alternative investment disclosure forms. In addition, while Johnson was associated with the firm, it had a policy that limited its customers from investing more than 35% of their liquid net worth in alternative investments. Johnson dramatically inflated his customers’ net worth and liquid net worth and dramatically understated the percentage of his customers’ assets invested in alternative investments in order to circumvent the firm’s concentration policy and its supervisory oversight. (FINRA Case #2019061213402)