Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog

SEC Awards Two More Whistleblowers A Total of $54M

October 12, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Murphy’s-Misconduct-1024x1024-300x300 The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that the agency has awarded two more individuals funds totaling $54 million under the SEC’s Whistleblower Program.

The first individual was awarded $39 million, and the second was awarded $15 million. Both offered information and assistance that resulted in enforcement actions. The $39 million award is the second largest award in the program’s history.

After voluntarily providing the SEC with “original, timely, and credible information that leads to a successful enforcement action,” individuals may be eligible for monetary awards. For sanctions exceeding $1 million, whistleblowers may be awarded as much as 10% to 30%. Whistleblowers are a great help to an investigation, and can supply valuable information that might not otherwise be available.

CTFC Orders Restitution of $11.9M In Commodities Fraud

October 12, 2018 | Silver Law Group

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) filed orders today that brought and settled cases against two commodities firms engaged in unauthorized trading and two traders attempting to manipulate commodity prices.

In the first case, Iowa-based Kooima & Kaemingk Commodities, Inc. (K&K), Lauren Kaemingk (Kaemingk), and Bradley Kooima (Kooima) were charged with:

Fraud

SEC Charges Broker Jovannie Aquino

October 11, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Jovannie Aquino (CRD #4876661, aka John Aquino) is a former registered broker of New York, NY. Previous employers include Windsor Street Capital (CRD #34171), also in New York City, John Carris Investments LLC (CRD #145767), John Thomas Financial (CRD #40982) and Hallmark Investments, Inc. (CRD #135003) of New York City.

Aquino has worked for a total of 12 brokerages, holds Series 7 and 63 licenses and began working in the industry in 2004. Aquino has two LinkedIn pages that do appear to be updated, and no current employment information is available.

SEC Announces Charges in Massive Telemarketing Boiler Room Scheme Targeting Seniors on elderfinancialfraudattorneys.com On September 7, 2018, the SEC charged Aquino with defrauding customers by engaging in “churning” to generate excessive commissions for himself, in the amount of $930,000. Aquino’s customers lost a total of $881,000. At the time of these allegations, May 2014 through November 2017, Aquino was registered with Meyers Associates, L.P. (now known as Windsor Street Capital.) The SEC complaint also states that in 2015 and 2016, Aquino and an unnamed colleague engaged in cold-calling leads acquired from a publicly available database.

SEC Charges Broker Emil Botvinnik With Excessive Trading, Churning

October 11, 2018 | Silver Law Group

If you watch your brokerage account regularly, you’ll see the various trades and charges that go along with them. But if you’re seeing transactions that you don’t recall authorizing, and you’re spending a lot more money for fees, commissions and other related charges, it’s time to ask questions. Our South Florida FINRA arbitration attorneys can answer those questions.

David-Sullivan-Accused-of-Excessive-Trading-on-More-Than-One-Occasion-300x200 Broker Emil Bottvinnik (CRD #4359481) has been charged by the SEC with doing just that very thing. On September 7, 2018, the SEC charged Botvinnik with excessive trading and “churning,” or frequent, short-term trading. This kind of quick-turnover trading paid more in commissions that a client would make from his or her investment.

The SEC alleges that Bottvinnik opened accounts for at least five individuals, and concealed information about what they would be charged for these frequent tradings. Many of these customers were at or near retirement age, and lost $2.8 million for his clients while making commissions of $3.7 million in “ill-gotten gains.” These tradings are alleged to have taken place while was employed with Meyers Associates L.P. in Miami Beach, Florida, from 06/19/2012 through 11/17/2014. Meyers Associates was expelled by FINRA on 5/29/2018.

Cybersecurity Breach Costs Voya Financial Advisors $1M In Fines

October 11, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Des Moines-based broker Voya Financial Advisors (VFA) has been fined $1 million in a cybersecurity case that’s the first under the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. VFA has agreed to pay the fines in relation to a case that saw their systems compromised and the personal information of thousands of the firm’s customers at risk.

sec-300x198 The SEC announced this week that it has charged VFA with violating the Safeguards Rule and the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. These rules were designed to protect customers from cyberattack activity, and protect customers and their confidential information.

In April 2016, over a six-day period, one or more individuals posing as an independent contractor called VFA’s technical support number to request portal password resets for three representatives. Two of those calls came from phone numbers that were used in previous fraudulent activities. Technical support personnel not only reset these passwords but provided the usernames as well.

Karl Foust Subject Of $1.1M In Customer Disputes With Wimbledon Health Partners Investments

October 5, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Karl Ronald Foust, Jr. (CRD #1010291) is a formerly registered broker and investment advisor who was last registered with H.D. Vest Investment Services (CRD #13686) of Boca Raton, FL. His previous employers include Gunnallen Financial, Inc. (CRD #17609) of Delray Beach, FL, Thomas James Associates, Inc. (CRD #15609) and Apple Financial Corporation (CRD #10375). No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 1981.

Richard-Gomez-Allegedly-Involved-With-Fraudulent-Company-1024x681-300x200 Foust currently has seven disclosures on his record, all customer disputes, one of which was closed without action. These customer disputes were all filed in the period between June 2017 and July 2018.

All of these disputes (including the closed case) are currently listed as “pending.” The common thread through each of these claims is Foust’s recommendations of the client’s investments in Wimbledon Health Partners, LLC, and failing to disclose his own involvement with the firm, a conflict of interest. Payments promised were not made to clients, and total damages of these claims comes to $1,198483.34.

FINRA Bars Registered Individuals in September 2018 for Violations of FINRA Rules

October 2, 2018 | Silver Law Group

According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for September 2018, the following individuals were barred from FINRA and cannot currently work for a FINRA brokerage firm for failing to provide FINRA with information it requested or to keep information current with FINRA pursuant to FINRA rules:

NAME	FORMER EMPLOYERS
Mona Ali	JP Morgan Securities LLC
Mona Ali	JP Morgan Chase Bank
Bobbie Jo Besler	Farmers Financial Solutions
Bobbie Jo Besler	State Farm VP Mgmt Corp
Jeffrey Cederberg	Primex
Jeffrey Cederberg	Capwest Securities, Inc
Vincente Davila	Morgan Stanley
Vincente Davila	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.
Alan Garett	Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC
Ramon Herrera	Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC
Mandee Khu	JP Morgan Securities LLC
Mandee Khu	Chase Investment Services Corp
John Maccoll	UBS Financial Services Inc
John Maccoll	Morgan Stanley DW Inc.
Felipe Munive	Allstate Financial Services, LLC
Gordan Nitka	MML Investor Services, LLC
Gordan Nitka	MassMutual Life Insurance Co
Daniel Ochao	Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC
George Oldoerp	H Beck, Inc.
George Oldoerp	Diversified Securities, Inc
Mary Olsen
Paul Prestia	Laidlaw & Company LTD
Paul Prestia	Network 1 Financial Securities Inc.
David Taylor	Lincoln Financial Securities Corp
Christopher Threet	JP Morgan Securities LLC
Christopher Threet	Capital One Bank

FINRA makes this information available, in part, to inform investors about potential red flags or problems with certain stockbrokers. If you invested with anyone in this report and have questions about your legal rights, our attorneys will talk with you at no cost to explain your legal rights and about how we can help recover your investment losses through securities arbitration or litigation.

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases through FINRA arbitration or court. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide in securities arbitration to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.

September 2018 FINRA Disciplinary Actions Name Individuals Suspended for Failure to Comply with FINRA Rules

October 2, 2018 | Silver Law Group

According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for September 2018, the following individuals were suspended from FINRA for failing to comply with a FINRA arbitration award or settlement agreement pursuant to FINRA rules:

NAME	FORMER EMPLOYERS
Heath Bowen	Allegis Investment Services, LLC
Heath Bowen	Signator Financial Services, Inc
William Eaton	LPL Financial, LLC
William Eaton	Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC
Yosef Fox	Ditto Trade, Inc
Yosef Fox	Web Street Securities, Inc
Louis Kittlaus	Wall Street Strategies, Inc
Louis Kittlaus	Edwin C. Blintz Investments, Inc.
Robert Nash	Merrimac Corporate Securities, Inc.
Jason Sullivan	Woodstock Financial Group, Inc
Jason Sullivan	Wells Fagro Clearing Services, LLC
Michael Venturino	Trident Partners LTD
Michael Venturino	Aegis Capital Corp

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases through FINRA arbitration or court. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide in securities arbitration to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.

Our lawyers have extensive experience collecting FINRA arbitration awards, prevailing on Motions to Vacate FINRA arbitration awards and using various collection efforts to enforce FINRA awards after they are received.

FINRA Suspends Registered Individuals for Violations of FINRA Rules in September 2018

October 2, 2018 | Silver Law Group

According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for September 2018, the following individuals were suspended from FINRA and cannot currently work for a FINRA brokerage firm for failing to provide FINRA with information it requested or to keep information current with FINRA pursuant to FINRA rules:

NAME	FORMER EMPLOYERS
Denise Canez
John Drill	Northwestern Mutual Investment Services LLC
John Drill	Robert Baird & Co Incorporated
Glenn Grosek	Citizens Securities, Inc
Glenn Grosek	Prunco Securities, LLC
Edgar Guzman-Gonzalez	JP Morgan Securities LLC
Edgar Guzman-Gonzalez	JP Morgan Chase Bank
Donald Heitz	LPL Financial LLC
Donald Heitz	First Command Financial Planning, Inc.
Gretchen Jenkins	LPL Financial LLC
Gretchen Jenkins	ESL Investment Services, LLC
Phillip Johnson	D.H. Securities, LLLP
Phillip Johnson	Suntrust Investment Services, Inc
Christopher Landa	LPL Financial LLC
Christopher Landa	Principal Securities, Inc.
Robin Lomont
Jeffrey Offen	Craft Capital Management LLC
Jeffrey Offen	Salomon Whitney Financial
Shawn Palmer	LPL Financial LLC
Shawn Palmer	Woodbury Financial Services, Inc
Somning Pheth	Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC
Somning Pheth	Wells Fargo Bank NA
Phillip Schreiner	Morgan Stanley
Phillip Schreiner	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.
Damian Serret	PFS Investments Inc
Damian Serret	Primerica Financial Services
Charles Suhar	The Huntington Investment Company
Charles Suhar	LPL Financial LLC
Zachary Swords	Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC
Bryce Vance	Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC
Stephen Yaworsky	Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.
Stephen Yaworsky	Bancwest Investment Services, Inc.

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases through FINRA arbitration or court. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide in securities arbitration to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.

Investment Center Broker Accused of Stealing $300K from Elderly Client

September 26, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Leon Vaccarelli allegedly defrauded a total of nine clients out of more than $1 million

In May, former financial advisor Leon Vaccarelli was charged with 12 counts of fraud and money laundering in a federal court in Connecticut. If convicted on all of them, he could receive a maximum penalty of 210 years in prison. After pleading not guilty, Vaccarelli was released on a $100,000 bond.

Vaccarelli is alleged to have stolen money from several clients between 2011 and 2017. During that time, he reportedly informed his clients that their money would be invested in different places, including money market accounts and retirement products. What Vaccarelli actually did, according to investigators, was put the money into his own account and use it to pay his own expenses. In addition, federal prosecutors also say that he also used client money to make interest payments to other investors.