California Securities Fraud Lawyer Blog

The following information regarding broker misconduct and disciplinary activities taken against California stockbrokers was released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in June 2010:

Donald Edwin Derieg, formerly with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Encino, California, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for what appears to be a case of elder financial abuse. According to FINRA, Mr. Derieg acted as a successor co-trustee in an elderly customer's account, was appointed as a beneficiary of the client's trust and life insurance policy, borrowed money from the client and made unsuitable investment recommendations.

Carlos Suazo of Marina del Rey, California, formerly with MetLife Securities, Inc. in Los Angeles, California, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for misusing $12,000 in customer funds that were supposed to be used to purchase a variable annuity.

The following information regarding broker misconduct and disciplinary activities taken against California stockbrokers was released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in May 2010:

Mission Securities Corporation of San Diego, California, was expelled from FINRA membership and the firm's principal Craig Michael Biddick was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. The firm and Mr. Biddick were also ordered to pay $38,946.06, plus interest, to customers, for converting and misusing securities held in customer accounts to pay firm operating expenses.

Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc. of Los Angeles, California was censured and fined $12,500 and required to make restitution to customers totaling $5,986.26 for allegedly selling municipal securities to customers from its own account at unfair and unreasonable prices.

Martin David Batstone with Independent Financial Group in San Diego, California, and formerly with QA3 Financial Corporation was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 10 business days for allegedly participating in the sale of equity indexed annuities when his employing brokerage firm did not have a selling agreement with the issuing companies.

Jason Allen Groth with Independent Financial Group in San Diego, California, and formerly with QA3 Financial Corporation was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 90 business days for allegedly participating in the sale of equity indexed annuities when his employing brokerage firm did not have a selling agreement with the issuing companies. Mr. Groth consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he failed to disclose to his employing firm that he sold equity-indexed annuities with a face-value of $4,800,000 for which he earned approximately $524,142 in commissions.

Reed Theodore Johnson with CUSO Financial Services in San Diego, California, was fined $7,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any principal capacity for 10 business days for allegedly approving the unsuitable sale of securities by a broker under his supervision.

Harold ("Hal") Sheldon Minsky with J.H. Darbie & Co., Inc.--recently with Strasbourger Pearson Tulcin Wolff Incorporated; Peak Securities Corporation; and also National Securities Corporation--was fined $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 30 days for allegedly selling unregistered stock that was not exempt from registration resulting in net proceeds of $6 million that was wired to offshore accounts.

The following information regarding broker misconduct and disciplinary activities taken against California stockbrokers was released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in April 2010:

Heriberto Americo Artiga Sr. of Sylmar, California, formerly with Lincoln Financial Securities Corporation in Downey, California, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for engaging in private securities transactions involving the sale of $2.5 million of promissory notes to individuals that were promised to be risk-free, high yield investments.

Horus River Brown, formerly with Banc of America Investment Services in La Jolla, California, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for engaging in a private securities transaction outside the scope of his employment involving the investment of $200,000 in a convertible debenture that Brown promised would return 10 percent within ten months.

Keevin Lorenzo Gillespie of Santa Ana, California, formerly with National Securities Corporation in Irvine, California, was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for nine months for exercising control over elderly individuals' accounts and effecting excessive and unsuitable securities transactions in the accounts causing a total net loss of approximately $135,414 and generating gross commissions totaling approximately $182,820.26.

Scott Daniel Hendrickson of Yorba Linda, California, formerly with Ameriprise Advisor Services, was fined $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two years. Hendrickson was terminated by Ameriprise for misappropriation/conversion of customer funds and unauthorized trading.

Richard Alan Mechikoff Jr., formerly with Securities America in Fresno, California, was fined $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two years for making unauthorized and unsuitable recommendations resulting in the excessive concentration of speculative and volatile stocks in customer accounts.

William Frederick Nord, formerly with Morgan Stanley in Newport Beach, California, was fined $2,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 10 business days for settling a customer's complaint by paying the customer and agreeing to lower commission rates on the customer's future stock purchases without his member firm's knowledge or approval.

The following information regarding broker misconduct and disciplinary activities taken against California stockbrokers was released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in March 2010:

Gary Thomas Armitage of Healdsburg, California, formerly with EPlanning Securities was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for engaging and participating in private securities transactions without notifying his employing firm.

Francisco P. Esparza of Tustin Ranch, California, formerly with J.P. Turner & Company and LPL Financial Corporation was fined $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 15 business days for making unsuitable recommendations to his customers to buy closed-end funds (CEFs) purchased in an initial public offering (IPO) and selling them in the short term without fully understanding the pricing of CEFs and the risks and rewards of the investments.

James William Geis of Mission Viejo, California, formerly with Crown Capital Securities, L.P. was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for participating in private securities transactions of related offerings without his employing firm's prior approval which consisted of oil and gas "working interests" and preferred stock.

Jeffrey Alan Gielau, Anaheim Hills, California, formerly with Thrivent Investment Management was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for three months for altering documents in connection with transactions that customers requested.

The following information regarding broker misconduct and disciplinary activities taken against California stockbrokers was released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in February 2010:

Donald Dunakin, formerly with GunnAllen Financial and Delta Equity Services Corporation in El Dorado Hills, California, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for making unsuitable recommendations to customers who had to borrow money in order to purchase securities.

Jeffrey Allan Forrest, formerly with Associated Securities Corp. in Van Nuys, California, was was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Forrest was also permanently barred by the SEC along with his company Wealthwise, LLC of San Louis Obispo, California, for failing to disclose material conflicts of interest when recommending that his clients invest in a high-risk hedge fund that made undisclosed subprime investments.

Jeannette Martens, a broker with NPB Financial Group of San Juan Capistrano, California, was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 30 business days for misrepresenting her identity in an attempt to obtain confidential information about a customer's account at another firm, which the customer had authorized Martens in writing and orally to obtain.

Ramon Oller, formerly with Morgan Stanley & Co. of Laguna Woods, California, was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for six months for failing to disclose material facts, such as state income tax liens, on his securities registration form.

Max Safdie, a broker with Moors & Cabot in San Francisco, California, and formerly with Wedbush Morgan Securities was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 30 business days for making misrepresentations to a third-party lending institution in order to assist a family member in obtaining a loan.

Louise M. Batchelor, formerly with Allstate Financial Services, San Diego, California, was permanently barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity and was suspended by the California Department of Insurance because she was charged with six felony counts of theft and forgery.

John Anthony Marrone, a broker with Nexcore Capital, Inc. in San Diego, California, and Morgan Stanley & Co. in Santa Monica, California, was suspended from August 18, 2009 to December 10, 2009, for noncompliance with an award in an arbitration filed against him by Morgan Stanley.

The following information regarding broker misconduct and disciplinary activities taken against California stockbrokers was released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in January 2010:

Robert Lee Mandeville, formerly with Securian Financial Services in Newport Beach, California, and Morgan Stanley in Laguna Woods, California, was fined $35,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for five months for allegedly engaging in unauthorized trades in customer accounts and making unsuitable trades in customer accounts.

Kale Edgar Evans, formerly with First Allied Securities in San Diego, California, and TD Waterhouse (now known as TD Ameritrade) was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity based on findings that Evans engaged in unsuitable and excessive trading in a young customer's account, misappropriated approximately $127,450 from the customer's savings account for his own purposes and gave the customer a $35,000 check as a settlement without his firm's knowledge or consent.

The following information regarding broker misconduct and disciplinary activities taken against California stockbrokers was released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in December 2009:

Dean Jay Addinanti formerly of Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC and A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. in Torrance, California, was fined and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 60 days for allegedly conducting unauthorized transactions in customer accounts.

Stephen Crai Keifner formerly of First Allied Securities, Inc. and A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. in Ventura and Oxnard, California, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for allegedly engaging in unauthorized trades in customer accounts, making unsuitable recommendations and altering customer account documentation.

The following information regarding broker misconduct and disciplinary activities taken against California stockbrokers was released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in November 2009:

Lisa Ann Tomiko Nouchi of Fairfield, California, was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 90 days and fined $10,000 for allegedly entering inaccurate and false customer information while she was employed at UBS Financial Services.

Marc Winters of Chatsworth, California, was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 90 days and fined $19,882 for allegedly entering inaccurate and false customer information while he was employed at UBS Financial Services.

Gary Thomas Armitage who is the principal of AGA Financial and was formerly with ePLANNING Securities, Inc. in Roseville, California, was named in a complaint filed by FINRA alleging unauthorized transactions in customer accounts and participating in unreported private securities transactions.

The following information regarding broker misconduct and disciplinary activities taken against California stockbrokers was released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in October 2009:

Kevin Michael Browne formerly of Regal Securities, Inc. in Dillon, California, was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for one year for allegedly defrauding investors in connection with the sale of Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs).

Pingping Shu (aka Carol Shu) formerly of Wells Fargo Investments in Camarillo, California, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 30 days for allegedly copying and pasting customer signatures on client forms without their authorization and consent.

Michael Alfred Thome of Folsom, California, a former broker with TD Ameritrade, was ordered to pay $402,137.50 plus interest as restitution for the misappropriation of funds from a customer who thought they were investing in a real estate partnership.

Douglas Richard Smith formerly with Financial Advisors of America, LLC in Thousand Oaks, California, was named in a complaint filed by FINRA alleging unauthorized variable annuity transactions and placing the customer's signature and/or initials on documents without the customer's knowledge.

The following information regarding broker misconduct and disciplinary activities taken against California stockbrokers was released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in September 2009:

William David Brusseau formerly of Independent Financial Group in Pasadena, California, and Omni Brokerage of Pasadena, California, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for allegedly borrowing money from customers.

Stephen Timothy Crawford formerly of Unionbanc Investment Services, LLC in San Diego, California, was fined and barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two years for allegedly borrowing money from customers.

Jacob Karamian formerly of Crowell, Weedon & Co. in Pasadena, California, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for allegedly transferring funds from a customer's account without their authorization.

Joaquinitio See Soliman (aka Jack Soliman) formerly of KMS Financial Services Inc., in Chino Hills, California, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for allegedly effecting discretionary transactions in customer accounts without written discretionary authority.

Donald Raymond Dunakin III formerly with Gunnallen Financial, Inc. of El Dorado Hills, California, is the subject of a FINRA disciplinary complaint alleging that he made unsuitable investment recommendations, including the purchase of securities on margin and providing false testimony to FINRA investigators.

Would you like to know whether your brokerage firm or stockbroker has had a history of customer complaints?

You can easily check a broker's employment and disciplinary history online at FINRA BrokerCheck Website or call the BrokerCheck Hotline at (800) 289-9999.

The letters F-I-N-R-A stand for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. They are the non-governmental regulatory authority for securities firms and stockbrokers.