South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog

Unauthorized Borrowing of Funds From Clients FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq. March, 2012: Felix Elbert Deacon III (CRD #2408954, Registered Representative, Richmond, Virginia) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for six months.…

Hedge Fund Fraud and Mismanagement FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq. March, 2012: Securities and Exchange Commission v. Andrey C. Hicks and Locust Offshore Management, LLC, as Defendants, and Locust Offshore Fund, Ltd., as Relief Defendant (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Civil Action No. 1:11-cv-11888-RGS) Court Orders Purported…

Investment Advisor and Broker/Dealer Fraud, Misrepresentation and Mismanagement FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq. March, 2012: SEC v. Andrew Franz, Civil Action No. 5:12-cv-0064 (N.D. Ohio) (J. Pearson) The Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) recently announced the filing of a complaint alleging fraud charges against Andrew Franz (“Franz”), a resident of Aurora,…

March, 2012: Recently, Securities and Exchange Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar’s chief of staff gave a speech to The American Retirement Summit which deals with the plight of senior citizens as targets for financial abuse. We felt that this speech was so significant dealing with seniors and financial abuse, we have set forth the full release…

March, 2012: MSRB RECEIVES SEC APPROVAL TO BEGIN DISPLAYING INTER-DEALER YIELD DATA ON THE EMMA WEBSITE Recently, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to begin displaying on the MSRB’s Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website price and yield data for municipal securities transactions between dealers. Inter-dealer…

Investment Advisor and Broker/Dealer Fraud, Misrepresentation and Mismanagement FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq. March, 2012: SEC v. Ming Zhao and Liping Zhu, Civ. No. 12-CV-1316 SEC Charges Chairman and Ex-CEO of Puda Coal With Fraud Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil injunctive action in the United States District…

Unauthorized Borrowing of Funds From Customers FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq. March, 2012: Jason William Chicosky (CRD #4643473, Registered Representative, Huntsville, Alabama) 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, Chicosky…

Private Securities Transactions and Selling Away FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq. March, 2012: Mark Jason Carpenter (CRD #4506491, Registered Representative, Ann Arbor, Michigan) was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. The sanction was based on findings that Carpenter failed to respond to FINRA requests for information and…

Registered Representative and Account Executive Fraud, Mismagamement and Misrepresentation FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq. March, 2012: Philip Mark Cain (CRD #2703720, Registered Representative, Corona de Tucson, Arizona) was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. FINRA did not order restitution because Cain’s member firm repaid his customers in…

Outside Business and Selling Away Misrepresentation and Fraud FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq. March, 2012: Beccah Leigh Boman (CRD #1413701, Registered Supervisor, North Oaks, Minnesota) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which she was fined $5,000, suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for four months…