Hantz Group Lawsuit: Raymond James, Van Duyn, and MedCap Cases

The Hantz Group lawsuit drawing the most attention right now is a Macomb County case the Michigan-based financial holding company filed against Raymond James & Associates and four former advisors in September 2023, but it is only the latest in a string of legal disputes involving the firm over the past two decades. Those disputes include an earlier non-solicitation suit against departing advisors, a multimillion-dollar embezzlement by a Hantz broker and the insurance coverage fight that followed, a class action tied to the Medical Capital Ponzi scheme, and a 2005 regulatory settlement with the NASD.

Hantz Group v. Raymond James and Four Former Advisors

In September 2023, Hantz Group and several affiliated entities sued former financial advisors Charles Frank Tourangeau, Stephen Paul Solverson, Nicholas Omicioli, and Nicole Bell, along with their new employer Raymond James & Associates, in Macomb County Circuit Court. The nine-count complaint alleged the advisors violated non-solicitation, non-compete, and confidentiality agreements by recruiting Hantz clients to move their accounts to Raymond James after leaving the firm. Claims included breach of contract, tortious interference, breach of fiduciary duties, conversion, civil conspiracy, and injunctive relief.¹

A separate count of intentional infliction of emotional distress was filed on behalf of Brian Laurain, a Hantz advisor who had worked alongside Tourangeau. The complaint alleged the departing advisors exploited Laurain’s absence during a family tragedy to solicit his clients.¹

Arbitration, Then Reversal

The defendants moved to send the dispute to FINRA arbitration, pointing out that both Hantz Financial Services and the individual advisors were FINRA-registered. In January 2024, Judge Richard L. Caretti agreed and compelled the entire case to arbitration, reasoning that even Laurain’s emotional distress claim involved “associated persons” under FINRA rules and that judicial economy supported sending the non-FINRA Hantz entities as well.¹

Hantz appealed. In April 2025, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed. The panel noted that while Hantz Financial Services was a FINRA member, the other plaintiffs — Hantz Group, Hantz Tax and Business, Hantz Holdings, and Hantz Agency — were not, had signed no arbitration agreements, and the non-solicitation contracts at issue contained no arbitration clauses. “Arbitration is fundamentally a matter of contract,” the court held, “and a party cannot be required to arbitrate an issue they have not agreed to submit to arbitration.” The panel found no Michigan caselaw supporting judicial economy as a basis to force non-signatories into arbitration, and sent the case back to Macomb County.²³

Where the Case Stands

Hantz Financial Services completed its FINRA arbitration separately and was dismissed from the circuit court case. The remaining Hantz entities continued litigating against Raymond James and the individual defendants. In January 2026, Judge Caretti denied the defendants’ emergency motion to block discovery into solicitation and account transfers, finding that limiting that testimony would hinder the remaining plaintiffs’ ability to prove their claims. A defense motion for summary disposition filed in November 2025 remained under advisement as of January 2026, and the case was still open.⁴

The 2015 Van Duyn Non-Solicitation Suit

The Raymond James case was not the first time Hantz went to court over departing advisors. In 2015, the company sued former employees Jason Van Duyn and Justin Hulett and their new firm, Aquest Wealth Strategies, in Oakland County Circuit Court for alleged breaches of non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements. The dispute traced back to 2009, when Hantz first sued Van Duyn after he left. In January 2016, Judge Wendy Potts denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss, finding the six-year statute of limitations had not expired given the parties’ prior litigation and an earlier dismissal without prejudice to pursue FINRA arbitration.⁵

The Michael Laursen Embezzlement and Insurance Fight

Between 2000 and 2008, Hantz Financial Services broker Michael Laursen embezzled more than $2.6 million from 22 clients at the firm’s Midland, Michigan office. He deposited client checks made payable to “HFS” into a personal account he had opened under the name “Henry Firearms Services,” so the money never reached Hantz’s internal systems. The scheme surfaced in March 2008 when clients Brian and Penny Bolton filed a FINRA arbitration complaint over account discrepancies. Two days after being notified of that complaint, Laursen died from a gunshot wound at a pistol range.⁶

Hantz identified all 22 victims by May 2008 and ultimately paid out more than $3 million, including a $600,000 settlement with the Boltons and a FINRA arbitration award of roughly $587,000 to clients William and Susan Monroe.⁷⁸⁹

After reimbursing clients, Hantz tried to recover its losses through a fidelity bond issued by National Union and an errors-and-omissions policy issued by American International Specialty Lines Insurance Company. Both insurers denied coverage, and Hantz sued in federal court in March 2013. In November 2016, the Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for both insurers. On the fidelity bond, the court found Hantz had sued too late: the bond required suit within 24 months of a final judgment or settlement, and the limitations periods for both the Bolton settlement (July 2009) and the Monroe judgment (December 2010) had expired. On the E&O policy, the court held that a “wrongful act” exclusion barred coverage because Laursen had knowingly stolen the funds, and that the supervision rider was not rendered illusory because it would still cover negligent-supervision claims arising from an employee’s unwitting misconduct.¹⁰⁷

The MedCap Ponzi Class Action

Hantz Financial Services also faced exposure from Medical Capital Holdings, a $2.2 billion Ponzi scheme built on medical receivables that the SEC shut down in July 2009. Hantz had sold MedCap private placement notes to roughly 300 clients whose combined losses were estimated at more than $20 million.¹¹

In 2011, Anne M. Hanton, trustee of a family trust, filed a class-action lawsuit in Montmorency Circuit Court alleging Hantz failed to conduct proper due diligence before selling the notes. An earlier, similar class action by a different investor, Raymond Bergin, had resulted in class certification being denied because the plaintiff missed filing deadlines, and the settlement order stated the procedural rulings would be “final and binding in any refiled case.” The trial court initially struck Hanton’s class allegations on that basis. In September 2014, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed, holding that Hanton, as an unnamed putative class member in the Bergin case, was not bound by that plaintiff’s procedural failures, and remanded for the trial court to evaluate class certification on the merits.¹²

The 2005 NASD Settlement

In 2005, Hantz Financial Services settled charges brought by the National Association of Securities Dealers through a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent. The investigation, which began in 2003, produced findings on seven violations, including misleading marketing claims of “independence,” failure to disclose revenue-sharing arrangements with preferred product providers that created conflicts of interest, the sale of unsuitable limited partnerships to certain clients, and inadequate supervisory systems.¹³

Under the settlement, founder John Hantz received a 30-day suspension from supervisory duties. The firm had to hire an independent consultant to review its policies, disclose preferred-supplier relationships and revenue-sharing payments in writing to all clients, and implement a new management and supervisory structure that included creating a board of directors.¹³

About the Company

Hantz Group was founded in 1998 by John Hantz as a financial holding company headquartered in Southfield, Michigan. It operates more than 20 offices across Michigan and Ohio, employs over 600 people, and as of 2021 managed approximately $11 billion in assets for more than 17,000 clients. Its subsidiaries cover financial planning, insurance, tax and business services, lending, trust management, and technology. The company became a registered investment advisor with the SEC in November 2015.¹⁴

Beyond financial services, Hantz has drawn its own controversy through Hantz Woodlands, a Detroit land project approved by the city council in 2012 in a 5-4 vote. The project involved purchasing roughly 1,550 parcels of blighted city land for $540,000, and some council members and residents called it a “land grab” offering preferential terms to a wealthy developer.¹⁵ Hantz representatives said the project reduced blight and helped create a residential real estate market in previously abandoned neighborhoods.¹⁶

1
Michigan Courts. Hantz Group Inc. v. Tourangeau, Case No. 2023-002986-CB (Jan. 11, 2024 Order)
2
Michigan Courts. Hantz Group Inc. v. Solverson, Docket No. 369561 (Apr. 29, 2025)
3
Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Arbitration, Judicial Economy, FINRA
4
Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Hantz Group Inc. v. Raymond James, Case No. 2023-002986-CB (Jan. 5, 2026 Order)
5
Michigan Courts. Hantz Group Inc. v. Van Duyn, Case No. 2015-146862-CB (Jan. 19, 2016 Order)
6
Crain’s Detroit Business. Lawsuits Fly in Bid To Recover Stolen Assets
7
FindLaw. Hantz Financial Services Inc. v. American International Specialty Lines Insurance Co., Case No. 15-2237
8
Our Midland. Hantz Files Lawsuit Against Widow
9
InvestmentNews. After Settlement, Firm Eyes Widow of Rogue Adviser
10
GovInfo. Hantz Financial Services Inc. v. American International Specialty Lines Insurance Co., Case No. 15-2237
11
InvestmentNews. Reg D Scare Fading, but MedCap Sales Still Haunt a Broker-Dealer
12
FindLaw. Hanton v. Hantz Financial Services Inc., Docket No. 314889
13
Hantz Group. NASD Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, AWC No. EAF-0400060001
14
Hantz Group. Hantz Group History
15
Bridge Detroit. John Hantz Tree Farm Detroit East Side Blight
16
Michigan Public. Detroit Council Approves Mass Hantz Woodlands Land Sale