NOTE: Stipulations of Fact and Consent to Penalty (SFC); Offers of Settlement (OS); and Letters of Acceptance Waiver, and Consent (AWC) are entered into by Respondents without admitting or denying the allegations, but consent is given to the described sanctions & to the entry of findings. Additionally, for AWCs, if FINRA has reason to believe a violation has occurred and the member or associated person does not dispute the violation, FINRA may prepare and request that the member or associated person execute a letter accepting a finding of violation, consenting to the imposition of sanctions, and agreeing to waive such member's or associated person's right to a hearing before a hearing panel, and any right of appeal to the National Adjudicatory Council, the SEC, and the courts, or to otherwise challenge the validity of the letter, if the letter is accepted. The letter shall describe the act or practice engaged in or omitted, the rule, regulation, or statutory provision violated, and the sanction or sanctions to be imposed.
2010
Rodney Brian Moss AWC/2009016709015/ 2010
Moss participated in the sale of $50,000 worth of Universal Lease Programs (ULPs) without prior written notice about the sale to his member firm and his firm’s prior written approval. He earned approximately $6,000 in commissions from his sale of the ULP.
Moss participated in sales of
payphone programs totaling $65,000,
an automatic teller machine (ATM) program totaling $48,000 with an additional $2,400 for surety bonds
to members of the public and failed to provide his firm with written notice about the sales and never obtained the firm’s written approval.
Moss initialed and signed business activity statements in which he agreed that he was aware that his firm must be notified of all his business activities, even those that did not relate to the securities industry; these statements were incomplete and misleading because Moss failed to disclose his participation in the sales of the ULP, the payphone program and the ATM program.
Totoy converted $1,000 from an elderly customer by using an automatic teller machine (ATM) card to withdraw the funds from the customer’s account without her knowledge or consent. Totoy admitted that he made the withdrawals and later returned the funds to the bank. Totoy failed to respond to FINRA requests for information and to appear for a FINRA on-the-record interview.
Floyd requested and received temporary automated teller machine (ATM) cards in customers’ names and used the cards to withdraw a total of more than $15,000 from the customers’ accounts without their knowledge or consent, and used the funds for his own personal use and benefit.
Floyd failed to respond to FINRA requests for documents and information.
Without bank customers’ knowledge or authorization, Polage used their personal bank account information to generate and activate ATM cards linked to their savings accounts and withdrew funds totaling approximately $36,102 from the accounts. Polage has not returned any of the funds to the bank customers or reimbursed the bank after it reimbursed the funds to the customers. Polage failed to respond to FINRA requests for information.
Jeffries-Hernandez caused referral bonuses to be credited to customer accounts for which the customers were not entitled. Jeffries-Hernandez issued ATM cards for the accounts and used the ATM cards to withdraw the funds for his personal use, without the customers’ or the bank’s knowledge or authorization. Jeffries-Hernandez failed to respond to FINRA requests for information and failed to appear for an on-the-record interview.
Bronsky used the bank ID and computer of the assistant branch manager at the bank where he was employed to create an automatic teller machine (ATM) card and personal identification number (PIN) for a bank customer without the customer’s knowledge. Bronsky used the ATM card and PIN to withdraw a total of $2,511 from the customer’s savings account for his own use and benefit.
Without a bank customer’s knowledge or authorization, Barrett
signed the customer’s name on a check withdrawal form requesting a $25,000 check from the customer’s account made payable to Barrett’s friend, and the funds were later deposited into the friend’s checking account; and
activated and linked an ATM card to the bank customer’s savings account and used the card to withdraw $3,500 from the account for his own personal use and benefit.
Barrett failed to respond to FINRA requests for information and to appear and testify at an on-the-record interview.
While employed as a personal banker at her member firm’s affiliate bank, Katz improperly obtained an automatic teller machine (ATM) card for a customer’s account without authorization and misappropriated approximately $100,000 from the customer’s account.
White converted $1,800 from a customer by creating a temporary ATM card in the customer’s name without the customer’s permission or consent, and used the unauthorized ATM card to withdraw $1,800 from the customer’s bank account for her own use and benefit. White failed to respond to FINRA requests for information and documents and to appear for a FINRA on-the-record interview.
Registered Supervisor Newton used her position as an operations manager to misappropriate more than $10,000 from her member firm. Newton
entered false deposit amounts into her brokerage account at her firm, thereby creating artificial balances in the account,
transferred money from the brokerage account to her personal checking account, and
used the funds for personal purposes.
In an attempt to conceal the false deposits, Newton deposited checks into her brokerage account and made an online transfer knowing at the time that her checking account lacked funds to cover the checks, and used an ATM to intentionally enter an amount to be deposited that was greater than the check included with the deposit. By knowingly entering fictitious deposit amounts into her brokerage account at her firm, Newton created artificial balances in it and caused her firm’s books and records to be false.