South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
Private Placement Fraud and Misrepresentation FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.
January, 2012:
Michael Adam Lichtenstein (CRD #2439244, Registered Representative, Boca Raton, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $50,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 24 months. The fine must be paid either immediately upon Lichtenstein’s reassociation with a FINRA member firm following his suspension, or prior to the filing of any application or request for relief from any statutory disqualification, whichever is earlier. Without admitting or denying the findings, Lichtenstein consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he solicited firm customers to invest in a private placement offering of securities and sent several customers a one-page document entitled “use of proceeds” for an entity that was not the offering’s issuer. The findings stated that the document had been prepared by Lichtenstein’s firm’s outside counsel and the firm provided the document to Lichtenstein for distribution to prospective investors. The findings also stated that while some of the proceeds from the offering were ultimately used to purchase membership interests in the other entity, the offering was not for the other entity. The findings also included that although Lichtenstein never owned any interest in his firm, he represented to a customer that he did have an ownership interest in the firm. FINRA found that Lichtenstein willfully failed to timely disclose material facts on his Form U4.
The suspension is in effect from November 7, 2011, through November 6 , 2013. (FINRA Case #2009016157803).