Financial Enforcement Actions | Week of August 17 to August 23

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Nobetes
Violation: According to the FTC, the sellers of Nobetes claimed that their supplement could treat diabetes and reduce the need for insulin, but these statements were false or were not substantiated by scientific evidence… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: FlexiPrin
Violation: En febrero del 2017, la FTC y el Fiscal General del Estado de Maine acusaron a XXL Impressions, LLC y demandados relacionados con hacer afirmaciones falsas y engañosas sobre la efectividad de FlexiPrin… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: DOTAuthority.com
Violation: De acuerdo a la FTC, DOTAuthority envío a miles de pequeñas empresas mensajes engañosos que creaban la falsa impresión de que estaban afiliados con el Departamento de Transporte de los Estados Unidos u otra agencia de gobierno e indució a las empresas a usar su servicio de registro de vehículos comerciales… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: KWH (Heating & Renewables) Ltd
Violation: KWH has failed to manage its business in such a way as to ensure that its affairs are conducted in a sound and prudent manner, that it is not a fit and proper person, and that it is therefore failing to satisfy the Threshold Conditions in relation to the regulated activities for which KWH was granted a Part 4A permission… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Daniel Lowther
Violation: Mr Lowther has failed to manage his business in such a way as to ensure that his affairs are conducted in a sound and prudent manner, that he is not a fit and proper person, and that he is therefore failing to satisfy the Threshold Conditions in relation to the regulated activities for which Mr Lowther was granted a Part 4A permission… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Glossy R Ltd
Violation: GRL has failed to manage its business in such a way as to ensure that its affairs are conducted in a sound and prudent manner, that it is not a fit and proper person, and that it is therefore failing to satisfy the Threshold Conditions in relation to the regulated activities for which GRL was granted a Part 4A permission… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: B G Car Sales Limited
Violation: BGCSL has failed to manage its business in such a way as to ensure that its affairs are conducted in a sound and prudent manner, that it is not a fit and proper person, and that it is therefore failing to satisfy the Threshold Conditions in relation to the regulated activities for which BGCSL was granted a Part 4A permission… Read More

Penalties: $36,000.00
Respondent: Carol Allen
Violation: violated the law and engaged in unsafe or unsound banking practices by embezzling approximately $441,321 during her employment as a teller and vault custodian in FMB’s Marietta branch… Read More

Penalties: $22,000,000.00
Respondent: Alpine Securities Corporation
Violation: Alpine had failed to file thousands of suspicious activity reports (“SARs”), and had filed thousands of other SARs with deficient information… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: Arlyn Roy Stokesbary
Violation: From August 2017 to August 2018 (the “Relevant Period”), Stokesbary exercised discretion in the accounts of 20 customers without written authorization from the customers and without acceptance of the accounts as discretionary by the Firm, thereby violating NASD Rule 2510(b) and FINRA Rule 2010… Read More

Penalties: $25,000.00
Respondent: Charles Edwin Taylor, Jodi Oyler Padgett, John Lodge Farmer
Violation: Respondents Charles Taylor, Jodi Padgett and John Farmer engaged in undisclosed outside business activities. Respondents were compensated for referring customers to a company marketing investments in precious metals without advance disclosure to their member firm. Taylor also failed to adequately supervise Padgett and Farmer to ensure that they disclosed their outside business activities… Read More

Penalties: $46,000.00
Respondent: John Lodge Farmer, Jodi Oyler Padgett, Charles Edwin Taylor
Violation: Respondents were compensated for referring customers to a company marketing investments in precious metals without advance disclosure to their member firm. Taylor also failed to adequately supervise Padgett and Farmer to ensure that they disclosed their outside business activities… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: John Hunter Tillotson
Violation: In December 2018, Tillotson impersonated five customers during five telephone conversations with a mutual fund company for the purpose of facilitating the prospective transfer of the customers’ retirement accounts to Morgan Stanley, in violation of FINRA Rule 2010… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Scott R. Riley
Violation: In June 2017, while a registered representative of Edward Jones, Scott Riley made three unauthorized trades in one customer’s account. Further, between July 2014 and July 2017, Riley exercised discretion without written authorization in approximately 18 of his Edward Jones customer accounts… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Gregory John Braccili
Violation: Braccili refused to appear for on-the-record testimony as requested pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210, in violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $2,500.00
Respondent: Justin B. Mitchell
Violation: From September 2012 through April 2016 (the “Relevant Period”), Mitchell engaged in an outside business activity involving the sale of nutritional supplements without providing prior written notice to LPL, in violation of FINRA Rules 3270 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $50,000.00
Respondent: Van Clemens & Co. Inc.
Violation: With regard to reviewing activity in customer accounts for potential excessive trading, Van Clemens failed, from June 2015 through June 2016, to establish and maintain a supervisory system, and to establish, maintain, and enforce written  supervisory procedures (“WSPs”), reasonably designed to achieve compliance with FINRA’s suitability rule… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Richard Targett-Adams
Violation: Solely for the purpose of these proceedings and any other proceedings brought by or on behalf of the Commission, or to which the Commission is a party, Respondent admits the Commission’s jurisdiction over him and the subject matter of these proceedings, and the findings contained in paragraph III.3 below, and consents to the entry of this Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Exchange Act, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions (“Order”), as set forth below… Read More

Penalties: $250,056.00
Respondent: Scott P. Strochak
Violation: Strochak participated in a fraudulent scheme that raised nearly $3.8 million from at least seventeen retail investors until the SEC halted the scheme in February when it filed an emergency action against Castleberry Financial Services Group, LLC, its president T. Jonathon Turner and its CEO Norman M. Strell… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: 5BARz International, Inc., Eagle Mountain Corporation, and EFT Holdings, Inc.,
Violation: BARZ has failed to comply with Exchange Act Section 13(a) and Rules 13a-1 and 13a-13 thereunder because it has not filed any periodic reports with the Commission since the period ended December 31, 2017… Read More

Penalties: $5,403,735.90
Respondent: Deutsche Bank AG
Violation: Deutsche Bank employees created false books and records that concealed corrupt hiring practices and failed to accurately document and record certain related expenses and Deutsche Bank failed to devise and maintain a system of internal accounting controls around its hiring practices sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that its employees did not bribe foreign government officials… Read More

Penalties: $20,000.00
Respondent: Michael Filkoski, CPA, and Scott Magnuson, CPA
Violation: Filkoski and Magnuson also willfully aided and abetted and caused GHP to violate Rule 2-02(b) of Regulation S-X. In connection with the 2012 and 2013 audits, GHP issued audit reports in which it represented that GHP had conducted the audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB, and further represented that, based on its opinion, Agria’s financial statements presented fairly, in all material respects, the company’s financial condition and results of its operations in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”)… Read More

Penalties: $40,000.00
Respondent: Ronaldo Gonzalez
Violation: Gonzalez knew Dinucci was providing price quotes or marks to at least one AOC customer as part of AOC’s brokerage business. Nonetheless, Gonzalez failed to establish or implement adequate policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent and detect Dinucci’s violations… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: chatAND, Inc., DTS8 Coffee Company, Ltd., and Greenfield Farms Food, Inc.,
Violation: GRAS has failed to comply with Exchange Act Section 13(a) and Rules 13a-1 and 13a-13 thereunder because it has not filed any periodic reports with the Commission since the period ended March 31, 2017… Read More

Penalties: $476,298.72
Respondent: Gray Financial Group, Inc., Laurence O. Gray, and Robert C. Hubbard, IV.
Violation: Gray Financial, its Founder, Gray, and co-CEO, Hubbard, recommended, offered, and sold investments in a Gray Financial proprietary fund of funds, GrayCo Alternative Partners II, LP (“GrayCo Alt. II”) to four Georgia public pension clients, despite the fact that they knew, were reckless in not knowing, or should have known that these investments did not comply with certain restrictions on alternative investments imposed by Georgia law… Read More

Penalties: $268,998.00
Respondent: ICO Rating
Violation: ICO Rating violated Section 17(b) of the Securities Act by touting ICOs that involved the offer and sale of securities, through both its own website and its social media accounts, without disclosing that it received compensation from an issuer for doing so, or the amount thereof… Read More

Penalties: $200,000,000.00
Respondent: JP Morgan Chase & Co
Violation: JPMorgan made misstatements in its public filings regarding the true amount of its losses in the first quarter of 2012 from positions held in the JPMorgan Chief Investment Office’s Synthetic Credit Portfolio and the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures… Read More

Penalties: $722,917.00
Respondent: Andrew J. Kandelapas
Violation: Kandalepas caused the company to issue false and misleading press releases announcing non-existent sales of medical devices by the company. As detailed in the complaint, Kandalepas manipulated the market for Wellness stock through secret trading in a friend’s brokerage account that generated over $136,000 in proceeds, which Kandalepas misappropriated… Read More

Penalties: $9,686,848.00
Respondent: Patrick L. O’Connor
Violation: O’Connor either lost or withdrew most of the funds, and the trading rarely yielded any profit. The information alleges that, in order to fool investors into believing that his investment transactions were legitimate, O’Connor operated a Ponzi scheme by making payments to some investors with the money provided to him from other investors… Read More

Penalties: $8,768,351.70
Respondent: Brian J. Polito
Violation: Polito misused and misappropriated investor funds, falsely stated to investors that their funds were invested in wells he did not own, created false documents to support his lies, and otherwise engaged in a variety of conduct which operated as a fraud and deceit on investors. The complaint also alleged that Polito offered and sold unregistered securities… Read More

Penalties: $436,861.00
Respondent: Financial Sherpa, Inc., And James L. Beyersdorf
Violation: Respondents disproportionately allocated profitable option trades to Beyersdorf or his wife and allocated unprofitable trades to many of Respondents’ clients. As a result, Beyersdorf received $232,166 in ill-gotten gains. Respondents also made false and misleading statements to their clients and prospective clients in Financial Sherpa’s Forms ADV, Part 2A regarding their trading in the same securities as clients, trading at or around the same time as clients, and aggregating trading for multiple client accounts… Read More

Penalties: $250,000.00
Respondent: Mosaic Capital, LLC., f/k/a AOC Securities, LLC
Violation: The firm and its chief executive officer knew Dinucci was providing price quotes or marks to at least one AOC customer as part of AOC’s brokerage business. Nonetheless, AOC failed to establish or implement adequate policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent and detect Dinucci’s violations… Read More

Penalties: $278,289.34
Respondent: Jeremy A. Licht d/b/a JL Capital Management
Violation: The Plan proposes to make distributions from the Net Fair Fund to investors who were harmed as a result of Licht’s fraudulent allocation or “cherry-picking”” scheme and who suffered losses as calculated… Read More

Penalties: $200,000.00
Respondent: TherapeuticsMD, Inc.
Violation: TherapeuticsMD violated Regulation FD and Exchange Act Section 13(a) in June and July 2017 by providing material, nonpublic information bearing on TX-004HR’s approval prospects to its sell-side analysts, and by failing to simultaneously or promptly publicly disclose that information as required by Regulation FD. Because TherapeuticsMD failed to simultaneously publicly disseminate the material information in accordance with Regulation FD, the investing public was placed at a disadvantage relative to the analysts and their subscribers who were privy to the selective disclosures… Read More

Click here to see the full list of SEC Enforcement Documents