A National Securities Arbitration & Investment Fraud Law Firm
From December 2012 to August 2014, Jeffrey C. McClure allegedly wrote 36 checks to himself from an elderly customer’s bank account. FINRA reports that the checks totaled nearly $89,000, which McClure deposited in his own account so that he could pay his own rent. FINRA permanently barred the broker.
Two brokers, Fernando L. Arevalo and Jimmy E. Caballero, were permanently barred from the securities industry by FINRA in 2013, for allegedly stealing $300,000 from an elderly widow with diminished mental capacity.
As the sole distributor of a Real Estate Investment Fund, David Lerner Associates allegedly solicited thousands of customers without determining if it was suitable for investors. In addition, FINRA states the firm targeted “unsophisticated investors” and the elderly. In 2012, FINRA ordered the firm to pay $12 million in restitution to affected customers who purchased shares.
Burnham Securities, Inc. (CRD# 22549), the alleged placing agent for a tribal bond scheme as indicated in a recently-filed SEC complaint, has got some interesting and noteworthy connections to the complaint despite recently closing down shop.
Burnham Securities has recently come under our firm’s gaze due to not-so-great allegations of its connection to a tribal bond scheme orchestrated by notorious father-son investment scam duo Jason W. Galanis and John P. Galanis. Though Burnham has not been specifically named, several of its principals and/or owners have been, and the SEC alleged the firm was the placement agent for the tribal bond offerings.
The Galanises employed a few associates in their scam of offering tribal bonds to unwitting investors. The Galanises and their associates raised the money through an elaborate scheme and then kept the money raised.
Brookstone Securities, as well as its owner/CEO, Antony Turbeville, and one of its brokers, Christopher Kline, were reported by FINRA to have made fraudulent sales of collateralized mortgage obligation to elderly and retired investors. The firm was not only fined $1 million, it was also ordered to pay restitution of more than $1.6 million.
In April of this year, Rafael Moreno accepted the sanctions levied against him by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for charges related to conducting outside business activity. As a result, the broker was fined and suspended.
First registered with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation of Jersey City, NJ, Moreno has been employed with Mora Wealth Management LLC in Miami since October of 2012.
Apostolos Nicholas Papadea, who has worked in the brokerage industry since 1969, has come under scrutiny in recent years for a variety of alleged infractions, including making trades without permission from his clients. As a result, he has been fined and suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Papadea has worked for three different companies over the last 13 years, including Wachovia and Wells Fargo in Columbia, SC. Since January of this year, Papadea has been employed with Advisory Services Network in Atlanta, GA.
In January of 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reached out to William Hutchinson to get information regarding complaints from some of his past clients. Because he did not respond, the agency suspended him. Hutchinson then had three months to request termination of that suspension, but he failed to do so and was automatically barred from association with any FINRA member.
First registered with Prudential Insurance in Newark, NJ, Hutchinson has been employed with J.P. Turner & Company in Montague, NJ, since May of 2011.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has filed a complaint against broker Jeffrey Krupnick, alleging that he converted a family member’s funds for personal use. The Sarasota broker has been working in the financial services industry for 15 years and had been employed by Ameriprise Financial Services in Sarasota since August of 2015.
He was also employed by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith in New York, New York from 2001 through 2004, Citigroup Global Markets in Venice, Florida from 2004 through 2008, Wells Fargo Advisors in Sarasota from 2008 through 2014, and JHS Capital Advisors in Sarasota from January through August 2015.
Securities Arbitration Lawyers Blog