Financial Enforcement Actions | Week of July 03 to July 09

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Samuel C. Lohner
Violation: Lohner refused to appear for on-the-record testimony that was requested pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210, in violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $99,720.87
Respondent: Douglas Edward Szempruch
Violation: Between August 2014 and June 2017, while associated with Aegis, Szempruch: (1) recommended and effected excessive and unsuitable trades in six customer accounts: (2) exercised discretionary authority without prior written authorization to effect trades in seven customer accounts, and (3) sent email communications containing misleading statements about an investment opportunity from his firm-approved email account… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Ji Jun Yang
Violation: Respondent is barred from associating with any FINRA member firm in any capacity for (1) converting firm funds by causing the firm to pay fictitious credit card charges, (2) falsifying firm documents, and (3) failing to provide documents and information requested by FINRA, in violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $50,919.00
Respondent: Kishan Parikh
Violation: Respondent Kishan Parikh engaged in excessive trading and unauthorized trading. For the excessive trading, he is suspended for 18 months in all capacities and fined $5,000. For the unauthorized trading, he is suspended for six months in all capacities and fined $5,000. Parikh is ordered to serve the suspensions consecutively… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Ronald J. Giovino, Jr
Violation: In connection with FINRA’s investigation into whether Giovino converted customer funds, FINRA staff issued Giovino requests for information and documents pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210. Giovano refused to produce the information and documents, in violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Tyler Rigsbee
Violation: Rigsbee refused to provide information and documents requested by FINRA pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210, in violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Jeanet C. Lee
Violation: Lee refused to provide information and documents requested by FINRA pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210, in violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: John Swon IV
Violation: In May 2021, Respondent violated FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010 by failing to provide information and documents requested pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210 in connection with Enforcement’s investigation concerning allegations in a customer complaint that Respondent misappropriated funds. Respondent notified FINRA staff that he would not produce the requested information and documents or otherwise cooperate… Read More

Penalties: $374,864.00
Respondent: Laino Group Limited D/B/A Paxforex
Violation: On September 24, 2020, the Commission ( or “CFTC”) filed its Complaint in this matter (Docket Entry (“DE”) 1) charging Defendant Laino Group Limited d/b/a PaxForex (“PaxForex”) with violating Sections 6(a) and 6d(a)(l), 7 U.S.C. §§ 6(a), 6d(a)(l) (2018), of the Commodity Exchange Act (“Act” or “CEA”) for engaging in unlawful retail commodity transactions, and failing to register with the Commission as a futures commission merchant (“FCM”). On February 15, 2021, Defendant was served with the Summons and Complaint (DE 16). Defendant’s response was due March 8, 2021… Read More

Penalties: $110,224.00
Respondent: KENZLEY RAMOS also known as Kenzley Jacobs also known as Anthony “Tony” David McKinney also known as Anthony Green
Violation: Kenzley Ramos is permanently restrained, enjoined and prohibited from directly or indirectly: A. Cheating or defrauding, or attempting to cheat or defraud, otherpersons; issuing or causing to be issued false reports; and willfully deceiving or attempting to deceive other persons in or in connection with any order to make, or the making of, any contract of sale of any commodity for future delivery, or forex contract that is made, or to be made, for or on behalf of, or with, any other person in violation of Sections 4b, 4c, and 4o of the Act, and Regulations 5.2(b)(1)-(3) and 32.4… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: KENZLEY RAMOS also known as Kenzley Jacobs also known as Anthony “Tony” David McKinney also known as Anthony Green
Violation: The Commission alleges that Ramos operated a fraudulent commodity pool violating several sections of the Act and the Commission’s regulations. According to the Commission, Ramos solicited members of the public through Craiglist advertisements promoting participation in a pool to trade binary options and forex. In the advertisements, Ramos promises to act as the participants’ day trader and use funds pooled from the participants to trade forex… Read More

Penalties: $352,693.00
Respondent: Daniel C. Tracy & Hilltop Securities Inc.
Violation: This matter involves Hilltop and Daniel C. Tracy’s violation of certain rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) and Hilltop’s failure reasonably to supervise a registered representative in connection with retail order periods for negotiated new issue municipal bonds. Between January 2016 and April 2018 (the “relevant period”), Tracy obtained bonds for Hilltop’s inventory by placing orders with a co-managing underwriter during the retail order period… Read More

Penalties: $10,003,172.00
Respondent: Kestra Advisory Services LLC.
Violation: Kestra AS, a registered investment adviser, breached its fiduciary duty to advisory clients by failing to provide full and fair disclosure regarding two types of compensation paid to its predecessor firm and affiliated broker (referred to herein as the “Affiliated Broker”, as more specifically defined in paragraph 6 below) and the conflicts of interest related thereto. First, since at least January 2014, the Affiliated Broker received revenue sharing payments from an unaffiliated clearing broker (“Clearing Broker”) as a result of Kestra AS’s advisory clients’ investments in certain mutual funds… Read More

Penalties: $299,569.00
Respondent: Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC.
Violation: Kestra PWS, a registered investment adviser, breached its fiduciary duty to advisory clients by failing to provide full and fair disclosure regarding two types of compensation paid to its affiliated broker (referred to herein as the “Affiliated Broker”, as more specifically defined in paragraph 6 below) and the conflicts of interest related thereto… Read More

Penalties: $150,140.24
Respondent: Joseph Yongyun Lee CPA, Juchi Lee CPA, Juchi Lee Fernandez, Ju-Chi Lee, Ju Chi Lee, Sue Lee & PLS CPA, A Professional Corporation, PLS SPAs, Chang G. Park CPA, Changgeun Park
Violation: PLS engaged in improper professional conduct within the meaning of Section 4C(a)(2) of the Exchange Act and Rule 102(e)(1)(ii) of the Commission’s Rules of Practice by engaging in repeated instances of unreasonable conduct and/or engaging in intentional or knowing conduct, including reckless conduct, and willfully violated the federal securities laws within the meaning of Section 4C(a)(3) of the Exchange Act and Rule 102(e)(1)(iii) of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, by willfully violating Rule 2- 02(b)(1) of Regulation S-X, and willfully violating PCAOB Rule 3500T and PCAOB Rule 4006… Read More

Penalties: $1,925,250.00
Respondent: St. Germain Investment Management Inc.
Violation: These proceedings arise from St. Germain’s breach of its fiduciary duty to advisory clients related to the receipt of revenue in connection with clients’ cash sweep accounts. Between February 2015 and December 2019 (the “Relevant Period”), the unaffiliated clearing broker St. Germain used for client accounts (the “Clearing Broker”) offered various cash sweep vehicles for uninvested cash… Read More

Penalties: $1,520,761.00
Respondent: Christopher E. McClure & Westport Capital Markets, LLC
Violation: The judgments follow a March 16, 2020 jury verdict finding that Westport Capital and McClure defrauded their advisory clients by repeatedly purchasing securities that generated significant undisclosed compensation, thereby enriching themselves at their clients’ expense… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Paul R. Arena, Nathaniel T. Bradley, Parallax Health Sciences Inc.
Violation: Between March 11, 2020 and April 9, 2020, Parallax, a healthcare company founded in 2010 whose stock is publicly traded, issued a series of seven press releases misleading investors about the company’s ability to capitalize on the COVID-19 pandemic… Read More

Penalties: $185,000.00
Respondent: Paul Arena; Nathaniel Bradley & Parallax Health Sciences, Inc.
Violation: According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Parallax issued a series of press releases in March and April 2020 falsely claiming that its purported COVID-19 screening test would be “available soon” and that it had medical and personal protective equipment (PPE) for “immediate sale.” The complaint alleges that Parallax’s insolvency prevented it from developing the screening test, and that the company’s projections showed that, even if the company had the funds, it would take more than a year to develop the test… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: ExeLED Holdings Inc
Violation: ELED 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 September 30, 2018… Read More

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Penalties: $28,620,493.00
Respondent: Michael Todd Greene, Moneta Management LLC. Moneta Management Inc.
Violation: The Complaint charges that Defendants participated in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45, by providing payment processors false or deceptive information to obtain and maintain merchant accounts and ignoring evidence of fraudulent activity on merchant accounts… Read More

Penalties: $30,583.14
Respondent: Cody Alt & Kushly Industries LLC.
Violation: The Commission considered the matter and determined that it had reason to believe that Respondents have violated the Federal Trade Commission Act, and that a Complaint should issue stating its charges in that respect… Read More