Articles Posted in churning

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Emil Botvinnik of taking $3.7 million in a fraudulent scheme involving excessive, high-frequency trading. On November 7, 2018, he asked a New York federal judge to toss the suit because he claimed its allegations do not meet the pleading standard for fraud.…

Peter Michael Malis (CRD #317892) is a registered broker and investment advisor currently employed with Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC (CRD #19616) of Woodland Hills, CA. His previous employers include Prudential Securities Incorporated (CRD #7471) of New York, NY, Bache Halsey Stuart Inc. (CRD #7238) and Paine, Webber, Jackson &…

A man whose account was churned down to $10,000 was awarded both compensatory damages of $375,000 for his original investment plus an additional $700,000 in punitive damages. The client, Herbert W. Voss, was awarded $1.075 million by FINRA. Mr. Voss’ attorney was quoted as saying that “It was like the…

Back in June, we told you about Yousuf Saljooki (CRD #5045123), who was suspended by the state of Arkansas after failing to disclose an outstanding federal tax lien. This failure led to his discharge of employment by Worden Capital. He was previously discharged by SW Financial in 2017 for opening…

A pump and dump scheme is a method used by fraudsters to artificially boost the price of a security that they own shares of in order to make a profit. According to the Securities & Exchange Commission, pump and dump schemes consist of two parts. First, stock promoters will try…

Unnecessary trading leads to losses for many investors, and the elderly are especially vulnerable to churning Churning is the process of a broker or investment adviser making unnecessary trades for a client with the sole or primary purpose of generating commissions. While there is no specific test to determine if…

The Silver Law Group has filed an arbitration claim before FINRA on behalf of two Florida teachers alleging, among other things, that financial advisor Curtis Milakovich (CRD# 5471527) churned their accounts while two national broker/dealers turned a blind eye. The claim also alleges that the two national broker/dealers did not…

After 7 complaints and millions in settlements, Doyle is suspended by FINRA According to a FINRA BrokerCheck report, Michael Doyle has received complaints from seven clients and was suspended for failing to comply with an arbitration award and to respond to the FINRA’s request to provide information concerning the status…

Drude’s failure to disclose details surrounding fraud of elder investor drives FINRA action In response to allegations surrounding his relationship with an elderly investor, Louisiana-based broker Bradley Drude agreed to an Offer of Settlement to FINRA in which he was assessed a deferred fine of $25,000 and suspended from association…

Churning is a Type of Securities Fraud What is churning? Simply put, churning is defined as excessive trading. While that sounds a bit benign and seemingly acceptable, here’s the catch: investment churning is actually considered to be the excessive purchasing and selling activity of securities (including stocks, bonds, mutual funds,…