Active Investigations

An AWC was issued in which Lon Charles Faccini Jr. (CRD #2736849) was assessed a deferred fine of $5,000, suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for six months, and ordered to pay $18,770, plus interest, in deferred restitution to a customer. Faccini has separately settled an arbitration claim filed by the other customer agreeing to pay that customer restitution for his unsuitable securities recommendations. …

An AWC was issued in which Archie Abel Blood Jr. (CRD #1861277) was assessed a deferred fine of $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for four months. Without admitting or denying the findings, Blood consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he participated in private securities transactions by facilitating the sale of $400,000 of a security to two …

An AWC was issued in which Edward Scott Short (CRD #2462752) was assessed a deferred fine of $5,000, suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for seven months, and ordered to pay $116,859, plus interest, in deferred restitution to customers. Without admitting or denying the findings, Short consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he willfully violated the Best Interest Obligation …

An AWC was issued in which Todd Anthony Cirella (CRD #2396336) was fined $5,000, suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for three months, and ordered to pay $27,566, plus interest, in restitution to customers. Without admitting or denying the findings, Cirella consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he willfully violated the Best Interest Obligation under Rule 15l-1 of the …

An AWC was issued in which Scott Paul Smith (CRD #4522269) was fined $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for 12 months. Without admitting or denying the findings, Smith consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he borrowed a total of $78,000 from an elderly customer without providing prior written notice to or obtaining written approval from his …

An AWC was issued in which Kevin Dominic Klickna (CRD #5640324) was assessed a deferred fine of $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for three months. Without admitting or denying the findings, Klickna consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he forged a customer’s electronic signature on an annuity account application without the customer’s consent and affixed the …

An AWC was issued in which Robert Earl Turner Jr. (CRD #2113736) was barred from association with any FINRA member in all capacities. Without admitting or denying the findings, Turner consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he participated in private securities transactions without providing prior written notice to his member firm before participating in the sale of fixed annuities that were outside the …

An AWC was issued in which Imani L. Bailey (CRD #7096388) was barred from association with any FINRA member in all capacities. Without admitting or denying the findings, Bailey consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that she converted funds from a customer of her member firm’s affiliate bank by successfully transferring $1,384.25 in total from the customer’s bank account to a third-party to pay an installment …

Mark Sam Kolta (CRD #5324620) was named a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that he made unsuitable recommendations to customers to purchase more than $4.8 million in shares of a non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT). The complaint alleges that Kolta’s recommendations caused his customers to lose more than $4.1 million, while he generated more than $290,000 in commissions. Kolta’s recommendations were unsuitable in view of the …

An AWC was issued in which Leonid Yurovsky (CRD #4554905) was suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for five months and ordered to pay $10,648.61 in restitution to a senior customer. In light of Yurovsky’s financial status, no monetary fine or prejudgment interest has been imposed. Without admitting or denying the findings, Yurovsky consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that …

An AWC was issued in which Ahmed Ghassan Gheith (CRD #5783951) was fined $7,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for one month. Without admitting or denying the findings, Gheith consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he solicited prospective investors to purchase private placement offerings claiming exemption from registration under Rule 506 of Regulation D of the Securities …

An AWC was issued in which Christine Anne Warner (CRD #4001584) was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any principal capacity for 40 business days. Without admitting or denying the findings, Warner consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that she failed to reasonably supervise the sales practices of two registered representatives.

The findings stated that contrary to the firm’s …