Compliance.ai

CME

2 Enforcement Documents

$18,600.00 in Fines

Penalties: $8,600.00
Respondent: Wells Fargo Commodities, LLC
Violation: Pursuant to an offer of settlement in which Wells Fargo Commodities (“WFC”) neither admitted nor denied the rule violations upon which the penalty is based, on March 4, 2021, a Panel of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”) Business Conduct Committee (“Panel”) found that on November 4 and 5, 2019, a trader employed by WFC engaged in pre-execution communications with a broker about the sale of Cash Settled Cheese futures strip orders and then traded in such futures… Read More

Penalties: $10,000.00
Respondent: Yon Tee Han
Violation: Pursuant to an offer of settlement in which Yon Tee Han neither admitted nor denied the rule violation or factual findings upon which the penalty is based, on March 4, 2021, a Panel of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”) Business Conduct Committee (“Panel”) found that from December 1, 2019, through March 31, 2020, Han entered non-bona fide stop orders and limit orders—occasionally through the existing bid/offer—in E-mini S&P 500 futures during the pre-open period, and the entry and cancelation of these orders caused fluctuations in the publicly displayed Indicative Opening Price… Read More

FTC

21 Enforcement Documents

$25,000.00 in Fines

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: TapJoy Inc.
Violation: In connection with Tapjoy’s advertising, marketing, promotion, or display of offers of virtual currency, Tapjoy has represented, directly or indirectly, expressly or by implication, that consumers will receive a reward of virtual currency upon completion of a specific action. The representation is false and misleading or was not substantiated at the time the representation was made… Read More

Penalties: $25,000.00
Respondent: Roy Snowden & Inmate Magazine Service Inc.
Violation: Defendants have (i) made misrepresentations about the magazines being delivered; (ii) made misrepresentations about the delivery time of magazines; (iii) failed to clearly and conspicuously offer consumers an option either to consent to a delay in shipping or to cancel an order and receive a prompt refund, when Defendants have not shipped the completed magazine orders within the timeframe required by MITOR; (iv) failed to cancel consumers’ orders and issue a prompt refund, when Defendants have not shipped the completed magazine orders within the timeframe required by MITOR; and (v) collected gross revenues of at least $2.2 million from consumers over the last three years as a result of their unlawful practices… Read More

FINRA

8 Enforcement Documents

$188,749.00 in Fines

Penalties: $1,477.38
Respondent: Robert Juan Escobio
Violation: Respondent failed to respond to FINRA information requests and failed to appear and provide testimony… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Nedjeen Baptiste
Violation: Baptiste failed to provide information and documents that were requested pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210, in violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Mayur T. Dala
Violation: Respondent refused to provide on-the-record testimony pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210, in violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $143,912.89
Respondent: Aegis Capital Corp
Violation: During the period of October 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018 (the “Municipal Bonds Best Execution Review Period”), Aegis violated Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) Rules G-30 and G-17 by failing to purchase municipal securities for its own account from a customer, or sell municipal securities for its own account to a customer, at an aggregate price (including any mark-up or mark-down) that was fair and reasonable in connection with two municipal bond transactions… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: George Marshall Warner
Violation: Warner failed to provide information and documents that were requested pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210, in violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: Michael Keith Napier
Violation: After accepting an offer to join Securities America, Napier improperly took nonpublic personal customer information from the firm through which he was then registered, without that firm’s or the customers’ knowledge or consent… Read More

Penalties: $38,359.00
Respondent: Jeffrey D. Stanga
Violation: Between October 2014 and December 2017, Stanga failed to fully disclose the nature of his outside business activities, in violation of FINRA Rules 3270 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Anne McCutcheon Crivelli
Violation: Crivelli violated FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010 by failing to provide information and documents pursant to FINRA Rules 8210… Read More

SEC

14 Enforcement Documents

$429,040.00 in Fines

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Glen A. Stewart
Violation: The Commission’s complaint alleged that Stewart offered and sold unregistered securities issued by the Wiser Partnership and the Wiser Corporation and, in connection therewith, acted as an unregistered broker and received transaction-based compensation… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Minish “Joe” Hede
Violation: The Commission’s complaint alleged that Hede violated Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act by selling promissory notes issued by Belize Infrastucture Fund I, LLC to customers of the Broker-Dealer while knowing that the Broker-Dealer firm had declined to approve the investment… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Shawn C. Cutting
Violation: Cutting falsely represented to investors that he had worked as a financial adviser for years and that he held securities licenses… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Nicholas Kabylafkas & Airborne Wireless Network
Violation: Nicholas Kabylafkas participated in Kelly Kabilafkas’s scheme by recruiting and falsely completing share transfer paperwork for at least one investor… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Shamoon Omer Rafiq, a/k/a Shamoon Rafiq, Omer Rafiq, and Omar Rafiq
Violation: As part of his fraudulent sales pitch, Rafiq falsely claimed that the SPV Fund was controlled by a well-known European investment firm run by a prominent family, and that Rafiq was a close associate of the firm and its members… Read More

Penalties: $419,040.40
Respondent: Michael Sean Murphy
Violation: The Commission alleged that, from at least November 2011 to March 2017, Murphy acted as a broker by regularly participating in securities transactions on behalf of RMR, using RMR’s capital, in exchange for transaction-based compensation. The Commission further alleged that Murphy violated Section 15(a) because he acted as a broker without registering with the Commission… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: George Heckler
Violation: Between 2009 and 2019, Heckler falsely told investors that their funds were being used to engage in very short-term equity trading and that the investments were consistently generating positive returns… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Paul W. Haarman; Patrick E. Duke & APEG Energy GP, LLC
Violation: The defendants made numerous false and misleading statements to investors about the risks of investing in the fund, Duke and Haarman’s compensation for managing the fund, and their expertise in the oil and gas industry… Read More

Penalties: $10,000.00
Respondent: Kevin R. Kuhnash; Jason P. Jimerson
Violation: Lucent routinely lied to its customers and falsified its certifications of test data to show that its products complied with customer specifications, including on important aspects such as fire-retardant measures… Read More

Click here to see the full list of SEC Enforcement Documents

Financial Enforcement Actions | Week of Mar 06 to Mar 12

CME