Weekly Enforcement Action Tracker (Mar 4 – Mar 9)

Penalties: $3,647,469.14
Respondent: Voya Investments, LLC and Directed Services LLC
Violation: The Voya Advisers willfully violated Section 206(2) of the Advisers Act… Read More

Penalties: TBD
Respondent: Robert M. Morano
Violation: violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 by obtaining more than $38,000 in illegal profits by purchasing shares in the company before it and DSV Air & Sea Holdings A/V jointly announced UTi’s acquisition… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Howard Richards, James Goodland, and Securus Wealth Management, LLC.
Violation: Omnibus Order Directing the Appointment of Tax Administrator in Administrative Proceedings that Establish Distribution Funds” (“Omnibus Order”), authorizing the Secretary to issue orders… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Jeffrey O. Friedland, Global Corporate Strategies LLC, and Intiva Pharma LLC
Violation: Violations of Sections 17(a) and (b) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 by misrepresenting both his own investment in OWC and the true nature of his professional relationship with the company… Read More

Penalties: TBD
Respondent: SEC Complaint – Jeffrey O. Friedland, Global Corporate Strategies LLC, and Intiva Pharma LLC
Violation: Engaged in a nearly $7 million securities fraud scheme to conceal the nature of his interest in an Israeli medical marijuana company, OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp… Read More

Penalties: $14,000,000.00
Respondent: New York Stock Exchange LLC, NYSE American LLC, and NYSE Arca Inc.
Violation: NYSE and American violated Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act… Read More

Penalties: $1,404,885
Respondent: Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.
Violation: Violated the registration provisions of the federal securities laws by effecting unregistered sales of almost 3 million shares of Longtop Financial Technologies Limited’s (“Longtop”) securities for a customer… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: DMS Advisors Inc
Violation: Violations of Sections 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”), Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. DMS Advisors and Kohli solicited investors to invest in the four mutual funds run by The DMS Funds, they instead used the money for other purposes… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Eric Lovy f/k/a Eric Beltran
Violation: Aided and abetted co-defendants Dedicated Sound and Audio, Inc.’s (“DSA”) and Steven Ventre’s (“Ventre”) violations of the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws by providing substantial assistance in making misrepresentations concerning the payment of commissions and the use of registered broker-dealers in the course of DSA’s securities offerings. … Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Peter R. Kohli
Violation: Kohli solicited investors to invest in the four mutual funds run by The DMS Funds, he instead used the money for other purposes. To conceal this fraud, Kohli sent investors fake financial statements purporting to show their investments in the mutual funds… Read More

Penalties: $715,871.57
Respondent: Valor Capital Asset Management LLC, and Robert Mark Magee
Violation: A fraudulent “cherry-picking” scheme carried out by Valor Capital Asset Management, LLC (“Valor”) and its principal, Robert Mark Magee (“Magee”). From July 2012 to May 2015, Magee disproportionately allocated profitable or less unprofitable trades from Valor’s omnibus trading account to his personal accounts, while disproportionately allocating unprofitable or less profitable trades to Valor client accounts… Read More

Penalties: $544,744.20
Respondent: Edwin Shaw LLC
Violation: violated Section 15(a)(1) of the Exchange Act, which makes it unlawful for any broker or dealer “to effect any transaction in, or to induce or attempt to induce the purchase or sale of, any security” unless such broker or dealer is registered in accordance with Section 15(b) of the Exchange Act… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Jersey Consulting LLC
Violation: Aiding and abetting each solicitor’s violations of Section 15(a)(1) of the Exchange Act and each solicitor with aiding and abetting Jersey’s violations of Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act, Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act, and Exchange Act Rule 10b‒5(b)… Read More

Penalties: $12,650.00
Respondent: Edward Henderson
Violation: Henderson and the investment fund representative, who was an undercover FBI agent, agreed that Henderson would receive a fee for introducing the representative to executives willing to pay kickbacks in exchange for funding for their companies. Henderson allegedly received $12,650 for introducing an executive to the fund representative, which was a portion of the kickback that the executive paid… Read More

Penalties: $6,974,000.00
Respondent: Jacob W.L. Stocking
Violation: One count of securities fraud in violation of Title 15 United States Code, Section 78j(b) and Title 17 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 240.10b-5, who engaged in a scheme to defraud investors whereby he solicited approximately 25 investors to invest approximately $7 million… Read More

Penalties: $4,132,835.54
Respondent: AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc
Violation: AVEO and its former CEO, Tuan Ha-Ngoc, former CFO, David Johnston, and former Chief Medical Officer, William Slichenmyer misled investors about the company’s communications with the Food and Drug Administration concerning the approval status of AVEO’s flagship drug candidate, tivozanib… Read More

Penalties: $500,000.00
Respondent: Elbit Imaging
Violation: This case concerns violations of the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (“FCPA”) involving millions of dollars of payments made by Elbit, and its then majority-owned indirect subsidiary Plaza Centers NV (“Plaza”)… Read More

Penalties: $237,991.19
Respondent: Deborah D. Kelley
Violation: Kelley willfully and knowingly committed securities fraud by engaging in a scheme with a co-conspirator, who served as a director of the New York State Common Retirement Fund (“NYSCRF”), to defraud NYSCRF… Read More

Penalties: $60,000.00
Respondent: Financial Fiduciaries, LLC and Thomas Batterman
Violation: Failed to disclose to certain of its clients financial conflicts of interest created by Financial Fiduciaries’ arrangement with a third party trust company, violating Section 206(2), Section 206(4), and Section 207 of the Advisers Act… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Gregg Z. Schonhorn
Violation: Schonhorn willfully and knowingly committed securities fraud by engaging in a scheme with a co-conspirator, who served as a director of the New York State Common Retirement Fund (“NYSCRF”), to defraud NYSCRF… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: SEC Complaint – Jersey Consulting LLC
Violation: unregistered and fraudulent offering of securities by Jersey Consulting LLC and its principal, convicted felon Marc Andrew Tager, effected through the use of paid and unregistered solicitors. Since September 2014, Jersey and Tager, with the assistance of the solicitors, raised at least $6 million from at least 84 investor households via the offer and sale of Jersey securities referred to as “Royalty Interests,” and the conduct is believed to be ongoing… Read More

Penalties: $1,000,000 & 8 months in prison
Violator: Stefan Lumiere
Violation: Lumiere engaged in a fraudulent scheme to mismark the Credit Fund… Read More

Penalties: $19,388.00
Respondent: Omer Ozeren
Violation: Violation of NASD Rule 2510(b), NASD Rule 2860(b), or FINRA Rule 2360(b) is also a violation of FINRA Rule 2010, Ozeren did not obtain prior written authorization from these customers to use discretion in their accounts or prior written acceptance of their accounts as discretionary by the firm…Read More

Penalties: $200,000.00
Respondent: Credit Suisse Securities (USA)
Violation: Failed to report and/or inaccurately reported positions to the LOPR in millions of instances. In addition, the Firm failed to establish, maintain, and enforce adequate supervisory procedures and controls, including written supervision procedures (“WSPs”) and a system of follow-up and review, reasonably designed to ensure compliance with position limit requirements and the proper reporting of positions on the LOPR… Read More

Penalties: $10,000.00
Respondent: Timothy John Bell
Violation: Beall violated NASD Rule 3040 and FINRA Rule 2010 by exceeding the scope of NPC’s approval to conduct two outside business activities. During that same period, Beall also held undisclosed officer, director, and employee positions with several entities… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: Kevin C. Yang
Violation: Between April 2013 and January 2017, while registered with Morgan Stanley, Yang exercised discretion without written authorization in the accounts of nine customers, in violation of NASD Rule 2510 and FINRA Rule 2010… Read More

Penalties: $470,000.00
Respondent: Mark Kaplan
Violation: Between March 2011 and March 2015 (the “Relevant Period”), Kaphin engaged in churning and unsuitable excessive trading in the brokerage accounts of a senior customer. As a result, Kaplan willfully violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “SEA”), and SEA Rule lOb-S, and violated FTNRA Rules 2020, and 2111, NASD Rule 2310, for conduct before July 9, 2012, and FINRA Rule 2010… Read More

Penalties: $46,758.08
Respondent: Selkrik Investments Inc.
Violation: The firm violated FINRA Rules 5310, 2121, 3110 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Dallas York
Violation: Respondent Dallas York violated FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010 by failing to provide information and documents in response to two requests made by FINRA pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210… Read More

Penalties: $25,000.00
Respondent: David L. Barbar
Violation: Respondent violated FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010, by refusing to produce information and documents requested pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.oo
Respondent: Ellen Scambia
Violation: Scambia permitted Merriman to conduct a securities business while below its net capital requirement, caused Merriman’s books and records regarding its net capital to be inaccurate, and signed and filed Financial and Operational Combined Uniform Single (“FOCUS”) reports on behalf of Merriman, which were later determined to be inaccurate. As a result of the foregoing, Scambia violated FINRA Rules 4110(b)(1), 4511(a) and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: David L. Capin
Violation: In 2015 and 2016, Capin exercised discretion without written authorization in three customers’ accounts in violation of NASD Rule 2510 and F1NRA Rule 2010… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: Choosri Lao
Violation: By acting in a capacity that required registration but failing to register, Lao violated NASD Rule 1031(a) and FINRA Rule 2010… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Michael B. Ralby
Violation: By refusing to appear for on-the-record testimony as requested pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210, Ralby violated FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $17,500.00
Respondent: ACP Securities
Violation: ACPS failed to accurately report TRACE-eligible securities transactions to TRACE, in violation of FINRA Rule 6730(c)… Read More

Penalties: $50,000.00
Respondent: First Kentucky Securities Corporation
Violation: First Kentucky failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that Eligible Customers who purchased mutual fund shares received the benefit of applicable sales charge waivers. As a result, First Kentucky violated NASD Conduct Rule 3010… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Francisco Jose Ortiz
Violation: Ortiz made possible a fraudulent transfer of customer funds by an imposter. Ortiz violated FINRA Rule 2010… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: Christine A. Murphy
Violation: without authorization from Noble Capital, Murphy gained access to the Firm’s Central Registration Depository (“CRD”) account and amended the Firm’s Form U5 filing regarding her termination from the Firm, in violation of FINRA Rule 2010… Read More

Penalties: $10,000.00
Respondent: Claudio Leonardo Villa
Violation: Villa made two $10,000 deposits of currency into his personal bank account. Villa structured the deposits to avoid the filing of a Currency Transaction Report (“CTR”) in violation of FINRA Rule 2010… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: Napoleon Andrews
Violation: Andrews willfully failed to timely amend his Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration or Transfer Form U4 (“Form U4”) to disclose a federal tax lien filed on August 31, 2015. By reason of the foregoing, Andrews willfully violated Article V, Section 2(c) of FINRA’s By-Laws and FINRA Rules 1122 and 2010… Read More