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February 2012 FINRA Disciplinary Actions- FL Only
Posted by: Robert Rex
February 16, 2012

FINRA posts disciplinary and other regulatory actions against brokers and brokerage firms every month. Here are those involving Florida brokers and firms.The link above will take you to the FINRA site if you wish to view the entire report for any month/year.

 If you have quesitons about your broker or your brokerage account, call Robert H Rex, Esq. at 561 391 1900. 

 

Bulltick Securities, LLC- Miami FL- $125,000 fine and censure for improper payment of commissions to non-registered foreign asset manager.

 Carson Medlin Company-Tampa FL- $20,000 fine and censure related to inadequate supervisory system.

 Mercantil Commercebank Investment Services-Coral Gables-FL-$20,00 fine related to supervision.

 Revere Securities, Boca Raton, FL- $15,000 fine related to supervision.

 TradeStation Securities, Inc. Plantation, Fl- $200,000 fine and censure and sanctions. Inadequate AML program.

 Jeffrey S Donner, Weston, FL- Barred. Unauthorized transactions in customer accounts.

Olaf F Gamlen, Palm Beach Gardens, FL-$5,000 fine and suspension for 10 days. Unauthorized use of discretion.

  Paul C Larsen and Quentin M Silic, Naples FL- Barred, failure to respond to FINRA request for information.

 Jordan A Linn, Hallandale, FL- $2,500 fine and suspended for 30 days. Failure to amend U4.

 Charles R Marks, Jr., South Jacksonville, FL-Fined $5,000 and suspended for 10 days. Exercised discretion.

 Neal S Smalbach, Palm Harbor, FL - Barred. Fraudulently misrepresented risks and ommitted material facts in connection with sale of security. 

 Basis FInancial, LLC, N. Miami Beach, FL- Armen Karapetyan, Sunny Isles FL, Gabriel Gennady Goldfine, Brooklyn NY- Named in FINRA complaint alleging they made series of material misrepresentations and engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with sale of private placement. 

 Charles E Bishop, Jr. , Pompano Beach, Fl- Named in FINRA complaint alleging he attempted to misappropriate $3 million from a customer. 

 Gardnyr M Capital, Anthony A. Grey, Winter Park, FL- Named in FINRA complaint for charging excessive markups.

 Suspended

 Martin Derrick Jenkins, Jupiter, FL

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FINRA DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FOR JANUARY 2012 (FLA ONLY)
Posted by: Robert Rex
January 19, 2012

Victor Azevado, Miami, Florida submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent and was fined $2,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for five days and to the entry of findings that he knowingly made untrue statements while employed by his member firm's bank affiliate.

Ricardo Blanco, Key Biscayne, Florida submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent and was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity and to the entry of findings that he sent documents that contained false and inflated account values to a customer and also sent a false account statement.

Richard Paul Counts, Belleair, FLorida submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent and was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity and to the entry of findings that he misappropriated about $18,000 from a customer checking account and about $73,500 from the same customer's home equity line of credit.

Jason C Dayton aka Jason Krupar, Oviedo, FLorida submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for 20 days and to the entry of findings that he failed to properly review and supervise a joint brokerage account application shared by a fellow broker and a firm customer.

Bradley J Delp, Deerfield Beach, FL submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $25,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for two months and to the entry of findings that he faile to provide prompt written notice to his firm that he was engaged in an outside business activity involving insurance products.

Marcela Zamora Erana, Key Biscayne, FL submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent in which she was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for a month and to the entry of findings that she instructed another registered rep not to cover short positions at agreed upon prices contrary to the account holder's wishes.

 Dennis Flanagan, Jr., Miami, FL submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $25,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for two years and to the entry of findings that he willfully failed to timely disclose material information on his U4.

Roy F. Glassberg, Boca Raton, FL submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $2,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for 20 days and to the entry of findings that he failed to notify his member firm that he worked for certain businesses and that he failed to disclose his directorship with an affiliate corporation.

 Dennis S. Kaminski, Wellington, FL was fined $50,000, suspended from association with any FINRA member for 18 months, required to requalify and found that he failed to supervise the timely review of his member firms variable annuity trades and failed to heed numerous warnings of staff deficiencies in the compliance department.

Michael A Lichtenstein, Boca Raton, FL submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $50,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for 24 months and to the entry of findings that he solicited firm customers to invest in a private placement offering and distributed inaccurate offering materials.

Jan D. Narrine, Winter Garden, FL submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member and to the entry of findings that he misappropriated over $57,000 from a customer account by forging documents.

Peter Martin Peterson, Tampa, FL was barred from association with any FINRA member  for failureto respond to FINRA requests for documents.

Joseph J Sciarra, Jr. , Wellington, FL was barred from association with any FINRA member and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $393,000 to a customer's estate. Sanctions were based on findings that Sciarra converted a customers funds to his own use.

John F. Sullivan, West Palm Beach, FL submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and COnsent in which he was fined $2,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for 15 days adn to the entry of findings that he commingled $425 of customer funds with his own.

Tyge T Tuccillo, Venice, FL submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member and to the entry of findings that he would not agree to appear for on the record testimony before FINRA related to a private placement offering sales practice.

Andrew J Aragona, Deerfield Beach, FL was named in a FINRA complaint alleging that he recommended variable annuity switches to an elderly customer. The new annuity was purchased for $1.1 million and switching from the old annuity incurred surrender charges of $69,000 for which Aragona received $67,500 in commissions. The customer incurred over $130,000 in surrender fees in less than one year.

Brookstone Securities, Lakeland FL was named  as a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that the firm, through its brokers, recommended and sold two private placements without understanding the inherent risks of the offerings; ie, the firm failed to perform adequate due diligence. The firm sold $815,000 worth to their customers and collected commissions of nearly $73,000.

Carlos F Otalvaro aka Francisco H Otalvaro, Coral Gables, FL was named in a FINRA complaint alleging that he wrongfully withheld customer funds.

Individuals Barred for Failure to Provide or Keep Current Information per FINRA Rule 9552(h)

Wilfredo Colon, Miami FL

Paul A LaRocco, Ocala, FL

Sherise C Lee, Tallahassee, FL

Juan R Marte, Orlando, FL

Antonio Seminario aka Jorge Antonio, Plantation FL

Van Gregory Zovluck, Plantation, FL

Individuals Suspended for Failure to Comply iwth FINRA Rule 9552(d)

Todd N Farmer, Deltona, FL

Michael F Louis, Boca Raton, FL

James B Herrick, Venice, FL

Timothy B Ruggiero, Plantation, FL

For a complete listing of the FINRA enforcement actions, visit their website at

http://www.finra.org/web/groups/industry/@ip/@enf/@da/documents/disciplinaryactions/p125399.pdf

If you have questions about the way your brokerage account has been handled, please give us a call at 561 391 1900 or visit our website at http://www.dmrslaw.com/ . We have been assisting investors recover investment losses in South Florida, across the nation and across the world for over 20 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FIRMS DISCIPLINED UNDER NASD TAPING RULE
Posted by: Robert Rex
January 09, 2012

It is not uncommon for small (and sometimes not so small) brokerage  firms to go out of business or to be expelled from FINRA membership for various disciplinary reasons. When a firm is expelled or has its FINRA registration revoked, the brokers  (who comprise the salesforce of a brokerage firm) must look for employment elsewhere. Given the fact that this salesforce may have contributed to the reason for the firm's expulsion, FINRA instituted a rule in 1998 requiring taping of broker's conversations with customers in certain instances.

Whenever a a brokerage firm has a salesforce comprised of a specified number (40% in small firms and 20% in large firms) of brokers who were previously employed by a firm that was expelled from FINRA membership within the last three years, the Taping Rule applies. Under this rule the firm is required to adopt special written supervisory procedures to supervise the telemarketing activities of all of its registered persons (brokers).

Link to the Taping Rule in NASD Notice to Members 98-52:

http://www.finra.org/web/groups/industry/@ip/@reg/@notice/documents/notices/p004858.pdf

The FINRA website currently lists the following firms as having been disciplined under the Taping Rule during the past three years:

AIS Financial, Inc.

APS Financial Corporation

Aura Financial Services, Inc.

Brewer Financial Services, LLC

Dolphin & Bradbury Incorporated

ITRADEdirect.com Corp.

Meeting Street Brokerage, LLC

Melhado, Flynn & Associates, Inc.

MICG Investment Management LLC

Mission Securities Corp.

MMR, Inc.

Morgages  LTD Securities, LLC

North American Clearing, Inc.

Prestige Financial Center, Inc.

Provident Asset Management, LLC 

If you have a question about the way your brokerage account is being handled, please give us a call at 561 391 1900, email rhr@dmrslaw.com or visit our website at http://www.dmrslaw.com/Securities-Arbitration-Administration/index.html .

 

 

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Tradespot Markets, Inc. (f/k/a Beloyan Investment Securities) Fined and Sanctioned
Posted by: Robert Rex
December 28, 2011

On December 20, 2011, the National Adjudicatory Council affirmed a FINRA hearing panels' ruling that found that Mark B. Beloyan of Tradespot Markets, Inc. in Davie, FL, emailed  stock recommendations that were not fair and balanced, did not provide a sound basis for evaluating the recommended stock and omitted material information. The Hearing Panel fined Beloyan and Tradespot $13,500 and suspended Boylan for 10 business days.

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Merrill Lynch Fined $1 Million for San Antonio Texas Ponzi Scheme
Posted by: Robert Rex
December 27, 2011

FINRA fined Merrill $1 million for supervisory failures that allowed broker Bruce Hammond to raise over a million dollars which was used in a Ponzi scheme. FINRA Chief of Enforcement Brad Bennett said "Firms must ensure their supervisory systems are designed to properly monitor employee accounts for potential misconduct. Merrill Lynch's inadequate supervisory system and the firm's excessive reliance on employee self-reporting enabled Hammonds to facilitate his Ponzi scheme to the detriment of investors". Merrill reimbursed investors who were harmed by Hammond's actions.

If you have questions about the handling of your accounts  or your broker, please do not hesitate to call 561 391 1900 or visit our website at www.dmrslaw.com .

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FINRA DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FOR DECEMBER 2011 (FLA ONLY)
Posted by: Robert Rex
December 27, 2011

For the complete listing of FINRA Disciplinary actions, visit their website at:

http://www.finra.org/web/groups/industry/@ip/@enf/@da/documents/disciplinaryactions/p125269.pdf

Here is a summary of Florida related actions for December 2011

 

Dawson James Securities, Inc (Boca Raton) Albert James Poliak (Parkland) Douglas Fulton Kaiser (Deerfield)-submitted Offers of Settlement. Firm was fined $90,000 and censured. Poliak and Kaiser were each fined $30,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA broker-dealer for a year. FINRA found that the firm and the individuals violated the Customer Protection Rule and that the firm violated the net capital rules.

 ERIC LAWRENCE BLOOM (Boca Raton) - submitted to a A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he is barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Bloom misrepresented the terms of an offering's subscription agreement leading the investor to believe that the proceeds would be used to fund the company's ventures in technology risk management. In reality, the funds were used to purchase shares of stock from an individual. In addition to many other significant facts, Bloom failed to disclose the the significant regulatory history of the companys to prospective investors.

Joseph John Giuliano (Boca Raton)- submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he is barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. According to FINRA, Giuliano misused funds deposited with his firm without consent or authorization.

Alan David Goddard, Jr. (Boca Raton) - submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he is barred from association with any FINRA member for 45 days and was fined $10,000. He agreed to FINRA's findings that he was actively engaged in a member firm's investment banking and securities business without proper registration.

Alan Stuart Pattee (Lake Worth)- submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he is barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Pattee consented to the entry of findings that he forged homeowner signatures on uniform mitigation verification forms in connection with homeowners insurance.

Evan Taber (Plantation) -barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. The sanction was based on findings that Taber intentionally converted or misappropriated customer funds. FINRA found that Taber did not make any investment with the customer funds but used them for personal expenses.

Joseph Alphonse Vitale (Boca Raton) - was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. The sanction was based upon findings that Vitale failed to respond to FINRA requests for information.

The following have been barred by FINRA  for failure to provide information or keep current information pursuant to FINRA Rule 9552(h).

Francisco ALberto Diaz (Miami)

Cynthia Duane Franke (Hallandale)

Robert Rodriguez (Miami)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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