Articles Tagged with misappropriation

Ex-Landolt Securities Broker Ran Now-Defunct Retirement Planning Institute 

Anthony Matthew Cottone, an ex-Landolt Securities stockbroker, has been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with fraudulently running Secured Capital Strategies Fund. This is a private fund in which 11 investors were persuaded to invest about $2.8M. Cottone was permanently barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in 2018.  

The owner and manager of the now-defunct Retirement Planning Institute LLC (RPI), Anthony Cottone, was a securities industry member for 13 years. His Broker Check record notes that he was a registered broker and investment adviser with several firms during this time. Most recently, he worked with Landolt Securities from 2016 to 2017. 

Joliet, Illinois Financial Advisor Faces Criminal Charges For Wire Fraud

Ronald Terrence Molo, a former Edward Jones broker, is accused of misappropriating customers’ funds and costing at least three older clients $778,000 in investment losses. He was suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) beginning October 25, 2021, after he failed to respond to the self-regulatory organization’s request for more information. 

On November 23, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed civil charges against Molo, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois filed criminal charges against him for wire fraud.   

SEC Said Firm Didn’t Implement Proper Safeguards To Prevent Misappropriation

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined Securities America Advisors $1.75M for allegedly not doing enough to protect customers from having their money stolen by a former registered representative who misappropriated $8M from at least 15 client accounts. Hector May has pleaded guilty to investment advisor fraud.

Securities America Advisors is the RIA arm of Securities America, Inc.,  which is owned by Advisor Group Holdings Inc.’s Securities America Financial Corporation. Securities America has been the introducing broker for Securities America Advisors customers.

Former Kentucky-Based Merrill Lynch Broker Gets Eight Years in Prison

Christopher Lee Hibbard, a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch and Pierce, Fenner & Smith is sentenced to eight years in prison. The ex-Kentucky stockbroker pleaded guilty to investment fraud and multiple counts of wire fraud earlier this year. 

Hibbard, who worked 18 years in the industry, has 14 disclosures on his BrokerCheck record, including several pending customer disputes. All of them, including the regulator and criminal cases, were filed over the last two years. 

Barred Stockbroker Faces Criminal and SEC Charges for Senior Investor Fraud 

Frederick Stow (CRD#: 864436), a former Raymond James broker based out of Tennessee, is now the subject of criminal charges accusing him of securities fraud, identity theft, and wire fraud for allegedly stealing $943,500 from the IRAs and other accounts of two senior investors between 2015 and 2019. 

The broker-dealer fired him last year and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) barred him in January. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently filed a parallel civil lawsuit against Stow.

Fired Merrill Lynch Broker Barred By FINRA Indefinitely 

If you were an investor who sustained losses while working with Ma Rosa Linan Abrego, contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm) today. Our brokerage firm misconduct lawyers work with clients who have suffered financial losses due to the negligent, fraudulent or other wrongful actions of their financial representatives. 

Ma Rosa Linan Abrego, based out of McAllen, Texas, was terminated by Merrill Lynch and recently barred indefinitely by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) from working as a financial advisor/stockbroker. 

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