Broker Misconduct - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Mar 20, 2015

LaSalle Street Securities Representative Fined For Unapproved Private Placement Offerings

David Leonard Potter, of St. Petersburg, Florida submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the described sanctions and the entry of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he made “negligent misrepresentations to investors” in regard to private offerings his firm, LaSalle Street Securities, had yet to approve. Mr. Potter, former branch manager of LaSalle Street Securities’ Tampa, Florida office, ran an investment advisory business, Platinum Wealth Partners, Inc. (PWP) which he decided to expand in late 2012. Without the capital to do so, Mr. Potter commenced a PWP private placement offering in March 2013 to raise capital through the sale of convertible debenture units. The offering was a minimum and maximum offering requiring at least $1.5 million being raised before distribution.

Mar 18, 2015

SWS Financial Services Representative Fined for Converting Client Funds

William Charlton Mays of Corpus Christi, Texas was barred from association with any FINRA member due to his conversion and misuse of customer funds while he was a representative of SWS Financial Services. Around August 2011, while Mr. Mays was still a member of SWS, he recommended a client to invest $50,000 in stocks and commodities. Mr. Mays allegedly told his client the $50,000 investment would yield 6% annual return. On September 6, 2011, Mr. Mays deposited the client’s $50,000 check into a bank account for May’s Financial Group, an organization Mr. Mays controls. A month later, his client requested his funds be returned, but Mays initially told the investor he couldn’t get the funds (but later gave his client $40,000). FINRA found that between September 2011 and October 2011 Mr. Mays converted and used upwards of $30,000 from his clients’ investment for personal expenses. For violation of FINRA conduct Rule 2150(a) and Rule 2010, Mr. Mays was barred from association with any FINRA member, ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, and ordered to pay restitution.

Jan 23, 2015

LPL Financial Advisor Marc Baldinger Suspended for Unauthorized Securities Transactions

Marc Halan Baldinger, a former broker with the Stuart, Florida branch of LPL Financial LLC (LPL Financial), submitted a letter of acceptance, waiver, and consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he participated in private securities transactions without the necessary written approval from his employer. FINRA found that Marc Baldinger assisted 20 clients, who invested a combined total of more than $12 million in Government National Mortgage Association Interest Only bonds (GNMA I/Os), in establishing accounts with other brokerage firms. According to FINRA, Mr. Baldinger received approximately $233,427 in compensation for his role in the sales of the GNMA I/Os; and all of these securities transactions were without the approval of his member firm, LPL Financial. FINRA also found that Mr. Baldinger failed to disclose his position as a managing partner of two limited liability companies, that he failed to disclose that he had opened an account with a broker dealer that was not LPL, and that he also failed to disclose to the non-LPL broker dealer that he was a registered representative.

Jan 15, 2015

Former Wilbanks Securities Broker Jamie Pope Permanently Barred by FINRA for Converting Investor Funds

Jamie David Pope, a former registered representative with Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based Wilbanks Securities, Incorporated (Wilbanks) consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the entry of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) sanction and findings that he converted a customer’s funds for his personal use.

Jan 13, 2015

Former LPL Financial and Financial Network Stockbroker Robert Mangold Suspended by FINRA

Robert Charles Mangold, a former registered representative with Financial Network Investment Corporation (Financial Network) and LPL Financial LLC (LPL) submitted a letter of acceptance, waiver, and consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) sanction and findings that he solicited and received $56,000 in loans from two customers.

Dec 30, 2014

FINRA Fines and Suspends Calton & Associates’ Dennis Witthoeft for Discretionary Trade Violations

Dennis Todd Witthoeft, a Wesley Chapel, Florida based broker with Calton & Associates, Inc. (Calton), consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he improperly exercised discretion in a customer’s account. While employed with Calton & Associates, Inc., of Tampa, Florida, FINRA found that Dennis Witthoeft exercised improper discretion when he effected a total of 61 stock and option transactions in a customer’s account at the end of the business days on which the customer had authorized the transations. Further, Dennis Witthoeft allegedly neglected to obtain written authorization from the customer allowing such use of discretion and the account had not been accepted by Calton as a discretionary account.

Dec 1, 2014

FINRA Files Complaint Against Former Edward Jones Broker Candius Bannister

Candius J. Bannister, of Sarasota, Florida, was named a respondent in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) complaint alleging that she borrowed $31,500 from a customer in violation of her member firm’s and FINRA’s rules. Formerly registered with both Edward Jones and Morgan Stanley, both Florida based broker dealers, the now unregistered Candius Bannister is alleged to have borrowed a total of $31,500 from a customer while employed with Edward Jones. She allegedly has not repaid the loans, as required by the promissory notes, and she allegedly neglected to request or receive pre-approval from Edward Jones with respect to the loans. Candius Bannister is alleged to have violated the rules of both Edward Jones and FINRA as a result of these transactions.

Nov 21, 2014

FINRA Fines and Suspends Herbert Kaye for Discretionary Trade Violations and Unsuitable Recommendations

Herbert Leonard Kaye, a Delray Beach, Florida based broker with First Allied Securities, Inc. (First Allied), submitted a letter of acceptance, waiver, and consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he entered discretionary trades in a customer’s account without the necessary prior written customer authorization. FINRA found that although Herbert Kaye had the verbal consent of his customer, he neglected to obtain the necessary written consent when he entered over 2,000 trades in equities and exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the customer’s account and generated over $173,000 in commissions. FINRA’s findings state that Herbert Kaye also recommended that his customer invest $1.1 million in a gold and precious minerals mutual fund, for which he received $11,000 in gross commissions. This mutual fund recommendation was unsuitable in light of the customer’s age, investment objectives, and the fact that Herbert Kaye allegedly knew that his customer wanted to avoid investments with large market fluctuations.

Nov 19, 2014

James Eastman Fined and Suspended by FINRA for Unauthorized Securities Transactions

James Clifford Eastman, a former broker with Westport, Connecticut based Westport Resources Investment Services, Inc. (Westport), submitted a letter of acceptance, waiver, and consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he participated in private securities transactions without giving prior written notice to Westport and without receiving the necessary approval from his employer. FINRA found that James Eastman referred three Westport customers to invest in an oil and gas limited partnership offered by Quest Energy Management Group, Inc. (Quest). The offering interest was in the Permian Advanced Oil Recovery Investment Fund 1, LP (Permian). Mr. Eastman referred the three Westport customers to Quest, allegedly assisting the customers in obtaining the investment funds from their Westport brokerage accounts in order to effect the transactions. FINRA stated that the customers invested $875,000 in the Permian securities offering.

Nov 10, 2014

Emini Experts, Capital Trading Concepts, and Dante Giovannetti Charged With Fraud Scheme

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged Emini Experts LLC (Emini), Capital Trading Concepts LLC (Capital Trading), and Dante S. Giovannetti (Giovannetti), all of Orlando, Florida, with a fraudulent investment scheme in which they used fictitious trading account statements to solicit nearly $700,000 from investors. The CFTC complaint alleges that the false trading account statements show tens of millions of dollars in fictitious profits from trading Emini S&P 500 futures contracts and over $53 million in cash on deposit as of July 31, 2014. The complaint further alleges that Emini, Capital Trading, and Giovannetti acted as unregistered Commodity Pool Operators and co-mingled pool funds with non-pool property.