New York Stockbroker Misconduct Attorney - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Aug 10, 2020

Former First Standard Financial Stockbroker Robert Frank Spiegel Suspended for Excessive and Unsuitable Trading

Robert Frank Spiegel of Staten Island, New York 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 engaging in excessive and unsuitable trading in violation of FINRA Rules 2111 and 2010. From October 2014 through November 2018, Robert Frank Spiegel was registered with First Standard Financial as a General Securities Representative. According to the FINRA findings, Robert Frank Spiegel allegedly engaged in quantitatively unsuitable trading in the account of a 70-year-old customer. The FINRA findings stated that the customer followed Mr. Spiegel’s recommendations, giving him de facto authority over the account and while doing so resulted in a high turnover rate of 34 and an annualized cost-to-equity ratio of 113%. In addition to the FINRA findings, the customer paid $18,047 in commissions and fees to Mr. Spiegel and incurred losses of $77,334.

Feb 21, 2020

Former Wells Fargo Stockbroker Elizabeth Ann Guarino Suspended for Misconduct

Elizabeth Ann Guarino of East Meadow, New York submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) in which Guarino was fined and suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for alleged unsuitable recommendations and unauthorized transactions in violation of FINRA Rules 2111 and 2010. From May 2008 until November 2017, Elizabeth Ann Guarino was registered with Wells Fargo as a General Securities Representative. According to FINRA, Guarino recommended that an elderly customer invest $85,000 in oil and natural gas limited partnerships that were speculative securities transactions. The FINRA findings stated that the partnerships’ earnings were inadequate to cover fixed charges and proceeds raised from the preferred securities would be applied to reduce outstanding debt. As a result of declining oil and gas prices, the company filed for bankruptcy and the customer sustained loses of over $150,000. The firm compensated the customer for her losses and filed a Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration (“Form U5”) terminating Guarino.

Jan 13, 2017

Morgan Stanley Representative Fined and Suspended for Fraudulent Wire Transfers

Debra J. Ferrara, a non-registered associate employed by New York NY-based Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (Morgan Stanley), submitted a letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) in which she consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the entry of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that she falsely represented that she had verbally confirmed five wire transfers totaling $108,680 which turned out to be fraudulent requests from a customer’s hacked email account. Debra Jean Ferrara, of Old Bridge, New Jersey, allegedly caused five fraudulent wire disbursements to be transferred from a customer’s account to a third-party bank. According to FINRA, Ms. Ferrara, a client services associate with Morgan Stanley, was sent an email with a request for a wire transfer of $27,750 from the hacked account of a client to a third party account. Ms. Ferrara completed the wire processing form stating falsely that she had verbally confirmed the transfer request when she had not. FINRA found that two days following the first hacked account wire request, Ms. Ferrara received another email from the imposter from an email that looked similar, but was different. The “m” in the email address had been changed to an “n” this time. Again, Ms. Ferrara processed the wire transfer requests, falsely attesting to verbally confirming the request when she had not.

Mar 7, 2016

Garden State Securities Broker Fined and Suspended by FINRA for Unsuitable Recommendations

Adam R. Tau, a former broker with the New York branch of Garden State Securities, Inc., submitted a letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he made unsuitable recommendations to a customer which resulted in substantial losses in the customer’s account. FINRA found that Adam Tau made recommendations to his customer that were unsuitable given his customer’s conservative investment objectives, risk tolerance, and limited assets and income. Mr. Tau recommended five purchases of common stock totaling approximately $204,000. During the relevant time period, the stock experienced several price declines which resulted in a loss of approximately $30,000. Additionally, FINRA found that Mr. Tau exercised discretion in his customer’s account by effecting ten trades without obtaining the necessary written authorization from his customer and neglecting to obtain the written acceptance of the account as discretionary by Garden State Securities.

Aug 26, 2015

J.P. Morgan Securities Broker Barred for Conversion of Customer Funds

Michael Zheng of New York, submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Department of Enforcement of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for allegedly converting funds of a J.P. Morgan Chase customer for his own personal use.

Aug 21, 2015

Chase investment Services Broker Suspended for Alleged Unsuitable Investment Recommendations

A complaint against Demitrios Hallas of New York was filed by the Department of Enforcement of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for alleged unsuitable investment recommendations. Hallas was associated with Chase Investment Services Corp. in 2007 as a General Securities Principal during the relevant period and has not been associated with a FINRA member since May 2014. According to a Form U-5 filed by Chase Investment Services, Hallas was terminated in 2012 for “job performance, including customer complaints alleging unauthorized trades and failure to disclose fee.”