securities fraud

FINRA Sanctions Morgan Stanley and Scottrade for Failing to Supervise Customer Transfers to Third-Party Accounts

August 9, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a press release concerning two settlements fining Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (Morgan Stanley) $650,000 and Scottrade, Inc. $300,000 for failing to implement reasonable supervisory systems to monitor the transmittal of customer funds to third-party accounts. The settlements included allegations that both firms had weak supervisory systems after FINRA examination teams reviewed the firms in 2011, but neither took necessary steps to correct the supervisory gaps.

Brad Bennett, Executive Vice President and Chief of Enforcement, was quoted in the press release as stating that, “Firms must have robust supervisory systems to monitor and protect the movement of customer funds. Morgan Stanley and Scottrade had been alerted to significant gaps in their systems by FINRA staff, yet years went by before either firm implemented sufficient corrective measures.”

In the Morgan Stanley settlement, FINRA alleged that from October 2008, to June 2013, three Morgan Stanley brokers in two different branch offices converted a total of $494,400 from thirteen customers by creating fraudulent wire transfer orders and checks to third-party accounts. In one example, the brokers moved funds from multiple customer accounts to their own personal bank accounts. FINRA found that in these instances Morgan Stanley’s supervisory systems and procedures to review and monitor transmittals of customer funds through wire transfers were not reasonable and could not detect multiple customer account transfers to the same third-party accounts and outside entities. In sum, FINRA found that the supervisory failures allowed the conversions to go undetected.

Broker Spotlight: Alexander Capital Broker Anthony Pace

July 29, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Anthony Pace (Pace) has been the subject of at least six customer complaints and one employment seperation. The customer complaint against Pace allege a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, engaged in churning (excessive trading), misrepresentations, negligence, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and failure to execute among other claims.

Pace entered the securities industry in 1994. From 2005 through May 2009, Pace was associated with J.P. Turner & Company, L.L.C. (JP Turner). Thereafter from May 2009, until September 2010, Pace was registered with vFinance Investments, Inc. From there, Pace was associated with Global Arena Capital Corp from September 2010, through April 2015. Finally, Pace became associated with Alexander Capital, L.P. in March 2015.

Pace’s employment separation involved allegations by Global Arena Capital claiming that Pace allowed client information to be taken from the office by another person. The information was later returned to the firm.

Gana LLP Investigation: Broker James Connors

July 28, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker James Connors (Connors) has been the subject of at least two customer complaints. The customer complaints against Connors allege a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments and engaged in churning (excessive trading) among other claims.

Connors entered the securities industry in 1995. From August 2006 through October 2009, Connors was associated with J.P. Turner & Company, L.L.C. (JP Turner). Thereafter from October 2009, until November 2010, Connors was registered with Brookstone Securities, Inc. Brookstone Securities was thereafter expelled from the industry by FINRA. From there, Connors was associated with Meyers Associates, L.P. Finally, Connors became associated with First Standard Financial Company LLC.

Some of these firms Connors has been associated with have been known to house troublesome brokers. For instance, Meyers Associates has an unusually high number of brokers with complaints on their records. According to FINRA, approximately twelve percent of registered representatives have some form of disclosure on their record. However, as we have previously reported, forty seven out of seventy five, or nearly sixty-three percent of the brokers employed by Meyers Associates, have a marked-up history as revealed by BrokerCheck. Even more disturbing is the fact that of those forty seven brokers have on average of 4.5 disclosure events per broker.

New York Attorney General Arrests Advisor Frederick Monroe On Charges of Running a Ponzi Scheme

July 25, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Frederick Monroe (Monroe) has been the subject of at least three customer complaints alleging that the broker misappropriated funds. In total the customers complaint that over $2 million has been taken by the broker. Subsequently, Monroe’s brokerage firm, Voya Financial Advisors (Voya Financial), terminated Monroe due to the allegations. Monroe had been associated with Voya Financial since 2006.

On June 10, 2015, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the arrest of Monroe and charging him with stealing over $1 million from investors by fraudulently soliciting them to reinvest their retirement monies in what essentially was a Ponzi scheme. Monroe was accused of luring clients that he provided services to as a financial planner by diverting their monies for his own personal use and paying back earlier investors he had defrauded. Monroe faces up to 25 years in prison.

The New York Attorney General also stated that while the current charges pertain to three victims the investigation has identified at least a dozen individuals who Monroe allegedly defrauded. According to the Attorney General’s felony complaint, Monroe’s fraud was carried by instructing investors to write checks to him personally and then deposited them into his personal operating account. Monroe is alleged to have advertised his services on the Capital Financial Planning, LLC website to “clients who have amassed a significant level of assets and seek to take advantage of advance advisory programs.”

Broker Leonard Tanner Suspended By FINRA Over Unauthorized Trading

July 15, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined and suspended broker Leonard Tanner (Tanner) concerning allegations between October 2010, and January 2014, Tanner executed discretionary transactions in approximately 90 accounts of customers under a verbal authorization but without prior written authorization from those customers or approval of his brokerage firm City Securities Corporation (City Securities).

Tanner became a broker with a FINRA firm in 1969. From July 1995 until October 2010, Tanner was associated with PNC Investments. Since October 2010, Tanner has been registered with City Securities.

FINRA alleged that Tanner exercised discretion in executing transactions in the accounts of approximately 90 customers. FINRA found that Tanner received prior verbal authorization from his customers for these transactions for their investment strategies but exercised discretion in executing those transactions. FINRA determined that Tanner did not obtain written authorization from his customers and that City Securities did not approve these accounts for discretionary trading.

Why Professional Athletes are Common Victims of Investment Fraud

June 29, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

Certain groups have been particularly vulnerable to advisors who engage in investment fraud. Among those groups well known are senior citizens who may have diminished capacity. Another group that serves as a common target are affinity frauds. In an affinity fraud the scammer preys upon members of a group or community such as members of certain religions or ethnic communities.

However, lessor known common victims of investment fraud schemes are professional athletes. Athletes are often preyed upon by bad advisors because they possess attributes that tend to allow the advisor to take advantage of their client. Athletes tend to be unsophisticated in the area of securities and investing often never having previous investment experience prior to going pro. In addition, athletes have busy schedules and demands on their time that do not allow the athlete to closely monitor or investigate each recommendation being made to them. Accordingly, athletes tend to place their trust in their professional advisor that they know what they are doing. Finally, athletes represent large, multi-million dollar opportunities to fraudsters.

In a recent OnWallStreet article, the unfortunate tales of several athletes were told. Among those athletes whose story were mentioned was Doug Mirabelli who recently won his arbitration dispute with Merrill Lynch where the firm was ordered to pay more than $1.2 million. The award came after Mirabelli and his wife claimed that their income portfolio, comprised of equities pledged against Merrill Lynch-owned mortgages, suffered losses that caused a liquidation. Their financial advisor Phil Scott was accused of providing “inappropriate investment advice” for securities including investments in Alliance Resource Partners, Apollo Investment Corp. and Copano Energy LLC.

Former Merrill Lynch Advisor Roderick Yzaguirre Accused of Stealing Millions From Clients

June 28, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Roderick Yzaguirre (Yzaguirre) has been the subject of at least 10 customer complaints and one firm termination. Customers have filed complaints against Yzaguirre alleging that the broker made misrepresentations concerning investments and misappropriated their funds among other claims. To date investors have accused Yzaguirre of misappropriating approximately $3,000,000 in client funds with the true extent of Yzaguirre alleged misconduct still unknown.

Yzaguirre has been a FINRA broker since 1994. From October 2009, through April 2015, Yzaguirre has been associated with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch) out of their Ontario, California branch. Merrill Lynch accused Yzaguirre of conduct involving potential misappropriation of client funds and misrepresentations of securities at the time of his termination from the firm.

Under the FINRA rules, a brokerage firm owes a duty to properly monitor and supervise its employees in order to detect and prevent brokers from engaging in illegal investments activity. In order to properly supervise their brokers each firm is required to have procedures in order to monitor the activities of each advisor’s activities and interaction with the public. Investment schemes often occur where brokerage firms either fail to put in place a reasonable supervisory system or fail to actually implement that system. Supervisory failures allow brokers to engage in unsupervised misconduct that can include all manner improper conduct.

SEC Complaint Alleges Veros Partners, Matthew Haab Jeffery Risinger, and Tobin Senefeld Engaged in a Farm Loan Ponzi Scheme

June 7, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought charges against Veros Partners, Inc. (Veros), an Indianapolis investment adviser, Matthew Haab (Haab), and two associates, attorney Jeffrey Risinger (Risinger) and Tobin Senefeld (Senefeld), fraudulently raised at least $15 million from at least 80 investors, most of whom were Veros advisory clients for the purposes of engaging in two fraudulent farm loan offerings. The SEC alleged the defendants made ponzi scheme payments to investors in other offerings and paid themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed fees. The SEC obtained a temporary restraining order and an asset freeze in order to put a stop to the scheme.

According to the complaint in each offering the investors purchased securities issued in 2013, by Veros Farm Loan Holding LLC (VFLH) and in 2014, by FarmGrowCap LLC (FarmGrowCap). VFLH and FarmGrowCap are controlled and operated by Haab and two associates, Risinger and Senefeld. The investors in the two offerings were informed, orally and in writing by Haab, and in the written offering documents, that investor funds would be used to make short-term operating loans to farmers for the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons. However, the SEC found that contrary to these representations significant portions of the loan proceeds were not used for current farming operations but were used to cover the farms’ prior unpaid debt.

In addition, the SEC alleged that Haab, Risinger, and Senefeld used money from the offerings to make at least $7 million in payments to investors in other offerings and to pay themselves over $800,000 in undisclosed “success” and “interest rate spread” fees. The SEC also has complained that the defendants repeatedly misled investors about the risks, nature, and performance of the investments and underlying farm loans.

Broker Complaint Investigation: David Persaud’s Sales Practices

June 6, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker David Persaud (Persaud) a/k/a Dwarka Persaud has been the subject of at least 5 customer complaints and one regulatory action over the course of his career. Customers have filed complaints against Persaud alleging a litany of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, unauthorized trades, breach of fiduciary duty, and churning among other claims. Two of these customer complaints were filed recently.

An examination of Persaud’s employment history reveals that Persaud moves from troubled firm to troubled firm. The pattern of brokers moving in this way is sometimes called “cockroaching” within the industry. See More Than 5,000 Stockbrokers From Expelled Firms Still Selling Securities, The Wall Street Journal, (Oct. 4, 2013). In Persaud’s 28 year career he has worked at 21 different firms.

Since 2008 Persaud has been registered with The Concord Equity Group, LLC, Andrew Garrett Inc., Garden State Securities, Inc., and since May 2015, Buckman, Buckman & Reid, Inc.

H. Beck, LaSalle, and J.P. Turner Sanctioned for Inadequate Supervision of Consolidated Reports

May 12, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) sanctioned three firms, H. Beck, Inc. (H. Beck), LaSalle St. Securities, LLC (LaSalle), and J.P. Turner & Company, LLC (JP Turner) – with fines of $425,000, $175,000 and $100,000, respectively concerning inadequate supervision of consolidated reports provided to customers.

As a background, a consolidated report is a single document that combines information regarding a customer’s financial holdings. Consolidated reports are used to supplement, but do not replace, official account statements disseminated by brokerage firms and market makers. FINRA released a regulatory notice reminding firms that consolidated reports must be clear, accurate and not misleading. Because these reports are not official reports FINRA is concerned that if consolidated report making is not rigorously supervised there is the potential for communications to be inaccurate, confusing, or misleading to customers. Consolidated reports can also be used for fraudulent or unethical purposes.

In the agency’s findings, FINRA determined that numerous registered representatives of the three firms prepared and disseminated consolidated reports to customers either without adequate review or any prior review by a principal. In particular, H. Beck and J.P. Turner did not have any written procedures specifically addressing the use and supervision of consolidated reports. In addition, while LaSalle had written procedures related to consolidated reports, it failed to enforce the procedures.