Securities Fraud Lawyer Blog

World Equity Group fined.

In June, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that World Equity Group of Arlington Heights, Illinois submitted an acceptance, waiver and consent letter regarding supervisory lapses in its securities business. In agreeing to the AWC, the firm was fined $50,000.

FINRA’s allegations against the firm included that the firm failed to properly implement and maintain a supervisory system designed to detect and prevent unsuitable and excessive trading in stocks.  FINRA found that the firm’s supervisory system was not set up to detect “red flags” such as excessive turnover ratios and high cost to equity ratios.  The firm also did not properly analyze commissions or utilize exception to prevent and detect excessive trading in customer accounts.  As a result of these lapses in oversight the firm did not detect the unsuitable and excessive trading in a customer’s account.

FINRA fines PTX Securities

In June, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that PTX Securities of Plano, Texas submitted an acceptance, waiver and consent letter regarding due diligence violations in its securities business. In agreeing to the AWC, the firm was fined $20,000.

FINRA’s allegations included that the firm failed to properly investigate the background of the issuer of securities that were being sold through the firm in a private placement. FINRA found that the firm derived the majority of its revenue acting as a placement agent for this issuer, and failed to inquire into the impact that a money judgment would have against the issuer during the due diligence process.

CP Capital Securities Fined by FINRA

In June, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that CP Capital Securities of Miami, Florida submitted an acceptance, waiver and consent letter regarding supervisory lapses in its securities business. In agreeing to the AWC, the firm was fined $70,000.

FINRA’s allegations against CP Capital included that the firm failed to supervise the offering of a private placement of securities of senior secured notes of a Columbian energy company. FINRA contended that the firm did not properly document and review the investment questionnaires used to determine eligibility and exemptions to participate in the private placement of the senior secured notes.  In agreeing to the sanction the firm agreed to retain an independent consultant to review the firm’s written supervisory procedures.

In May, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that Chris Tolmacs of Scotts, Michigan, formerly with Triad Advisors of Portage, MI was barred from association with any FINRA member as a result of his refusal to cooperate with FINRA’s investigation as to whether he engaged in private securities transactions with his customers.  The investigation concerned the issuance of promissory notes to memorialize loan transactions.  Chris Tolmacs initially cooperated with FINRA, but then refused to appear for the continuation of his examination, and refused to provide FINRA with information to aid in their investigation.

Chris Tolmac’s registration and disciplinary history

In order to lawfully sell investments to the public,  a registered rep must either be registered or exempt from registration.  Chris Tolmacs was registered with Triad Advisors from April 2008 through March, 2016.

In May, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that John Shockey of Shreveport, LA, formerly with Merrill Lynch, J.P. Turner and Summit Brokerage Services, all out of Shreveport, LA was suspended from association with any FINRA member for one year and ordered to pay $70,000.  Shockey submitted to findings that he engaged in private securities transactions with members of the firm by selling some of his own personal shares and directing clients to the third party seller of securities.  The total dollar amount of the shares sold that were attributed to Shockey is over $630,000.   According to FINRA, the transactions were in shares of Miami International Holdings, Inc., parent company of the MIAX Options Exchange.  According to the regulatory complaint, the sale of the Miami International Holdings securities constituted a violation of the registration provision of the federal securities laws as no registration statement had been filed, and no exemptions applied to the transactions.

John Shockey’s registration and disciplinary history

In order to lawfully sell investments to the public,  a registered rep must either be registered or exempt from registration.  John Shockey was registered with:

In May, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that Tom Schober of Rumson, NJ, formerly with SII Investments of Westborough, MA was barred from association with any FINRA member.  Schober submitted to findings that he made unsuitable annuity exchanges on behalf of elderly customers.  These exchanges resulted in over $150,000 in surrender penalties to the customers and netted Schober over $50,000 in commissions.  Schober never disclosed the surrender charges to the customers, and he also took steps to hide the basis for the exchanges from his firm and from the annuity companies.

Tom Schober’s registration and disciplinary history

In order to lawfully sell investments to the public,  a registered rep must either be registered or exempt from registration.  Tom Schober was registered with SII Investments from June, 2007 Through January, 2015.

In May, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that Harold Joe Petro of Greenwood, Indiana, formerly with Merrill Lynch of Indianapolis, Indiana was suspended from association with any FINRA member for six months and fined $15,000.  Petro submitted to findings that he made multiple trades in client accounts without obtaining written authorization as required by the firm.  Petro solicited shares in the firm’s parent company and marked the tickets as unsolicited when in fact he had solicited the trades.  As a result, he caused the firm’s books and records to inaccurately reflect the nature of the transactions, a violation of FINRA rules.

Harold Joe Petro’s registration and disciplinary history

In order to lawfully sell investments to the public,  a registered rep must either be registered or exempt from registration.  Harold Joe Petro was registered with Merrill Lynch from 1979 through March, 2014.

In May, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that Kelsey Molyet of Indianapolis, Indiana, formerly with J.J.B. Hilyard W.B. Lyons of Bloomington, Indiana was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity.  Molyet submitted to findings that she falsified documents, impersonated customers, and mislead customers about their account balances and transaction in their accounts.  When confronted with this information by FINRA investigators, Molyet falsely asserted that she did not alter customer documents.

Kelsey Molyet’s registration and disciplinary history

In order to lawfully sell investments to the public,  a registered rep must either be registered or exempt from registration.  Kelsey Molyet was registered with J.J.B. Hilyard W.B. Lyons from August 2009 through September 2014.

In May, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that Alicia Moe (aka Alicia Marie Leach) of Encino, California, formerly with Unionbanc Investment Services of Woodland Hills, CA was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity.  Moe submitted to findings that she refused to cooperate with a FINRA investigation into whether she withdrew funds from a Unionbanc customer’s account without the customer’s permission.  Unionbanc had previously opened an investigation into the same conduct.

Alicia Moe’s registration and disciplinary history

In order to lawfully sell investments to the public,  a registered rep must either be registered or exempt from registration.  Alicia Moe was registered with Unionbanc Investment Services from May, 2010 through January, 2016.

In May, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that Aldo Marchena of Boca Raton, FL, formerly with Northeast Securities and Kovack Securities, both of Boca Raton, FL, was suspended from association with any FINRA member for five months.  Marchena submitted to findings that he engaged in outside business activities without obtaining firm permission.  Marchena had sought firm permission to refer clients to his business consulting LLC, but the firm denied his request.  Marchena then continued to engage in the outside business activity, and made inaccurate statements on the firm’s annual compliance questionnaire regarding this outside business.  Marchena’s suspension ends on September 3, 2016.

Aldo Marchena’s registration and disciplinary history

In order to lawfully sell investments to the public,  a registered rep must either be registered or exempt from registration.  Aldo Marchena was registered with: