South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
South Florida, FINRA Securities Fraud and Mismanagement Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.
May, 2011
Devon Coulin McLean (CRD #4072332, Registered Representative, Homestead, Florida, formerly licensed with Questar Capital Corporation) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, McLean consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he failed to provide written notice of his involvement in unapproved private securities transactions to his member firm and lied to his firm during monthly supervisory meetings. The findings stated that McLean’s member firm prohibited its registered representatives from engaging in any private securities transactions unless they were personal investments and only after obtaining the firm’s prior written approval, but McLean referred a customer and another individual to someone who was raising monies for real estate projects. The findings also stated that these individuals invested approximately $75,000 in promissory notes with entities controlled by the individual to whom McLean referred them, and McLean received $1,500 in cash for the referrals. The findings also included that due to concerns stemming from items reported on McLean’s personal credit report, his firm placed him on heightened supervision and, among other things, McLean was required to meet with his supervisor monthly to discuss securities-related and outside business activities; but not once during these meetings did McLean disclose his involvement with the individual. FINRA found that in fact, on seven separate occasions, he signed statements affirming that he was not engaged in outside business activity beyond those already disclosed and that it was unnecessary to update his Form U4. FINRA also found that while employed by another member firm, McLean acted as an agent for an entity not affiliated with his firm and over which his firm had no control, without providing written notice to his firm or receiving his firm’s approval to serve in this role. In addition, FINRA determined that as an agent for the entity, McLean introduced individuals to an individual through whom they invested in a purported diamond mining operation. Moreover, FINRA found that these individuals entered into promissory notes, investing more than $40,000 with an entity the individual controlled. Furthermore, FINRA found that in addition to making referrals, as an agent for the entity, McLean was expected to provide financial and consulting advice to investors once their investments began earning profits, and in exchange, McLean stood to earn $2 million worth of shares in a company the individual controlled. The findings also stated that McLean failed to respond fully to FINRA requests for documents and information. (FINRA Case #2009016806001).
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