Former Independent Financial Group Stockbroker Jeffrey Schwebach Suspended for Engaging in Private Transactions

Jeffrey Schwebach of Sioux Falls, South Dakota submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in which he has been suspended for allegedly engaging in unapproved private securities transactions in violation of FINRA Rules 3280 and 2010. From November 2010 to June 2018, Mr. Schwebach was registered with Independent Financial Group (IFG) as a General Securities Representative and Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Representative. According to the FINRA findings, Jeffrey Schwebach sold $895,000 Woodbridge promissory notes to 18 investors, 13 of whom were his firm’s customers and received $19,534 in commissions. The findings also stated that Schwebach never sought approval from his firm to sell the promissory notes and instead disclosed Woodbridge as an outside business activity involving first position mortgages, not as private transactions. In addition to the FINRA findings, Schwebach allegedly falsely stated that he had not engaged in unapproved private securities transactions on annual compliance questionnaires.

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Sterne Agee Stockbroker Suspended for Unsuitable Recommendations

Andrew Jay Lowe of Leesburg, Alabama submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) in which he was fined and suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for allegedly recommending unsuitable trades and failing to timely amend his Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration or Transfer (“Form U4”). From January 2009 until September 2014, Andrew Lowe was registered with Sterne Agee Financial Services (Sterne Agee) as a General Securities Representative. According to FINRA, during the relevant period, Mr. Lowe recommended and engaged in unsuitable trading of Class A mutual funds in 24 customers’ accounts. Certain portions of those investments were then liquidated within a short time period and were unsuitable. FINRA stated that Mr. Lowe caused these customers to incur unnecessary sales charges in their accounts. The FINRA findings found that Lowe received approximately $36,180.87 in commissions. Since then, the firm has reimbursed $102,446.47 back to the customers that resulted from the unsuitable recommendations. In conclusion, FINRA also stated that Lowe allegedly failed to timely amend his Form U4 to disclose a federal tax lien of 183,380.57.

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Berthel Fisher Stockbroker Suspended for Private Transactions

John Huey Neely submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in which he was fined and suspended for allegedly exercising discretion in customers’ accounts violating NASD Conduct Rule 2510(b) and FINRA Rule 2010. From August 2009 until September 2018, Neely was registered with Berthel Fisher & Co. Financial Services (Berthel Fisher) as a General Securities Representative. The FINRA findings stated that between June 2014 and June 2015, Neely exercised discretion in effecting hundreds of transactions in two customers’ brokerage accounts without first obtaining written approval from the customers.  FINRA further stated that although the customers did give him verbal consent, he did not seek approval from his firm to accept the accounts as discretionary.

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Merrill Lynch Stockbroker Suspended for Impersonation of Client

Luke A. Eddy of Worcester, Massachusetts submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in which he was in violation of FINRA Rule 2010. Luke A. Eddy joined Merrill Lynch, Fenner and Smith, Inc in August 2014 as a General Securities Representative. According to FINRA, Eddy was terminated in June 2017 for posing as a client during a call with his member firm in order to transfer funds from the customers Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to her bank account. The findings stated that when the firm rejected the initial transfer fund, Eddy forged the customer’s signature allowing the firm to approve the distribution and transfer $3,400 from the customer’s firm IRA to her bank account. Due to suspicion that Eddy may have impersonated the customer’s signature, the firm did not process the payment.

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FINRA Suspends Former Robert W. Baird & Co. Broker for Unsuitable Investment Strategy

Jodie Ann LaMarre, of Sarasota, Florida, submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for allegedly recommending an unsuitable investment strategy to an elderly customer on a fixed income with conservative investment goals, causing the customer to suffer unnecessary tax liability of over $33,000. While employed with the Sarasota, Florida branch of Robert W. Baird & Co., Ms. LaMarre allegedly recommended the consolidation of all her elderly customer’s assets into a single taxable account.  According to FINRA, Ms. LaMarre made this recommendation without regard for the fact that several of the customer’s assets were in tax-deferred accounts.  FINRA’s findings state that Ms. LaMarre was aware of and understood the negative tax consequences of her unsuitable recommendations, which resulted in unnecessary tax liability of more than $33,000 and a reduction of her customer’s 2016 monthly social security benefit.

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Lincoln Financial Broker Permanently Barred by FINRA for Converting Elderly Client’s Funds

Jimmy Moscoso, a former registered representative with Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation (Lincoln Financial) has been permanently barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) based upon its findings that he converted funds of his elderly customer. According to FINRA, Jimmy Oswald Moscoso, of Boca Raton, Florida, converted approximately $20,000 from his elderly customer, allegedly using the money for his own personal use instead.  FINRA found that an elderly customer agreed to invest $20,000 in a purported real estate investment by giving Mr. Moscoso a check for $20,000 made payable to a business owned by Mr. Moscoso.  Mr. Moscoso then endorsed the check and deposited it into an account controlled by him and used the money for his personal use.  Without admitting or denying FINRA’s findings, Mr. Moscoso was permanently barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity.

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MetLife and Pruco Securities Broker Barred by FINRA for Misrepresentations in Connection with Variable Annuities

Winston Turner, a former broker at Pruco Securities LLC, and MetLife Securities, Inc., was permanently barred from acting as a broker or associating with firms that sell securities to the public by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) due to findings that he made fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions in connection with variable annuity investments.    FINRA found that Winston Turner, of Tampa, Florida, induced three customers to purchase securities by intentionally making misstatements regarding the earnings to be generated by their variable annuities. According to FINRA, Mr. Turner falsely told three customers that their variable annuity investments would earn a “guaranteed” minimum annual interest and misrepresented to a customer the tax implications of her variable annuity purchase.  FINRA also found that Mr. Turner attempted to circumvent his member firm’s supervisory system by misrepresenting the source of funds in connections with variable annuity applications.  Further, Mr. Turner misrepresented to his firm his personal email address as the email address of his customers in order to ensure that the customers were not contacted.

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SunTrust Investment Services Broker Barred for Failure to Cooperate with FINRA’s Investigation

Kirsten Flynn Hawkins of Staunton, Virginia, submitted an Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to, settle violations of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Rule 8210 for failing to provide the documents and information requested in connection with a FINRA investigation. Ms. Hawkins voluntarily resigned from the securities industry with FINRA on November 13, 2014, and her registration with FINRA was terminated on December 10, 2014. As of now, Ms. Hawkins is not associated with a FINRA member firm, but still remains subject to FINRA’s jurisdiction pursuant.

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Complaint Filed Against Allstate Representative for Fraud

A complaint filed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Agency (FINRA) against Philip Leonard Grasso Jr. alleges that he, a representative of Allstate Financial Services, LLC (Allstate Financial) “inserted himself into the lives of two elderly customers in order to defraud them of their funds.” FINRA alleged that while Mr. Grasso was on a medical leave of absence from Allstate Financial, he inserted himself into the lives of two elderly customers (ages 89 and 91) in order to defraud them financially. Between December 2013 and January 2014, Mr. Grasso allegedly convinced the two elderly clients to liquidate their various life insurance policies and annuities (approximately $227,150) and open a brokerage account. Mr. Grasso allegedly then took all the funds from the brokerage account and put them in his own bank account. Mr. Grasso used these client funds for personal expenses like his mortgage and stock investments. In an attempt to hide the misconduct, Mr. Grasso allegedly created false documents for his clients and misrepresented their investment. Mr. Grasso was terminated by Allstate Financial due to allegations that he “commingled the customers’ funds” in May 2014. As it’s a current investigation, FINRA has requested sanctions and restitution to be imposed upon Mr. Grasso.

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