January 2012 FINRA Florida Disciplinary Actions

FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) has taken disciplinary actions against the following individuals for violations of FINRA rules and federal securities laws, rules and regulations.

Jan D. Narrine (Winter Garden, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, Jan Narrine consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he misappropriated a total of $57,311.99 by transferring funds from customers’ accounts to his own, and in each instance, forged the customers’ signatures on LOAs, which falsely purported to authorize and instruct the transfers. The findings stated that the transfers were made without the customers’ knowledge or authorization.

Victor B. Azevedo (Miami, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $2,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for five business days. Victor Azevedo consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he knowingly made untrue statements while employed by his member firm’s bank affiliate.

Ricardo Blanco (Key Biscayne, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member. Ricardo Blanco consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he sent documents that contained false and inflated account values to a customer and also sent the customer a false account statement, which indicated that the account’s value was approximately $3 million when, in fact, it was worth less than a dollar. The findings stated that Ricardo Blanco sent a false account statement with an inflated value to another customer; the false statement indicated that the value of the account was approximately $2 million when the account had, in fact, been closed.

Richard Paul Counts (Belleair, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member. Counts consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he misappropriated approximately $18,000 from a customer’s checking account and approximately $73,500 from the same customer’s home equity line of credit; Counts converted these funds to his personal use.

Jason Christopher Dayton aka Jason Krupar Oviedo, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for 20 business days. Dayton consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he failed to properly review and supervise a joint brokerage account application shared by a registered representative employed at his firm and a firm customer, and approved the opening of the account even though it violated firm

Bradley John Delp (Deerfield Beach, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $25,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for two months. Bradley Delp consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he failed to provide prompt written notice to his member firm that he was employed by, or accepted compensation from, another person as a result of outside business activities. The findings stated that Delp was a shareholder and employee of an independent insurance agency who brokered fixed-term or whole life settlements for his insurance customers, and his insurance agency received a commission for most of the life settlement transactions it brokered.

Peter Martin Peterson (Tampa Florida) was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. The sanction was based on findings that Peterson failed to respond to FINRA requests for documents.

Joseph James Sciarra Jr. (Wellington, Florida) was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity and ordered to pay $393,935, plus interest, in restitution to a customer’s estate. The sanctions were based on findings that Joseph Sciarra converted a customer’s funds by not applying the funds for the customer’s intended purpose. The findings also stated that the customer passed away and Joseph Sciarra has not reimbursed the customer’s estate.

John Franklin Sullivan (West Palm Beach, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $2,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for 15 business days. John Sullivan consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he commingled $425 of a customer’s funds with his own.

Tyge Thomas Tuccillo (Venice, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member and to the entry of findings that he would not agree to appear for on the record testimony before FINRA related to a private placement offering sales practice

Andrew James Aragona (Deerfield Beach, Florida) was named as a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that he recommended variable annuity switches to an elderly customer The complaint alleges that because the customer incurred a total of approximately $130,000 in surrender fees in less than one year, the costs outweighed any purported benefits; therefore, the recommendations were not suitable for the customer.

Michael Adam Lichtenstein (Boca Raton, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $50,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for 24 months. Michael Lichtenstein consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he solicited firm customers to invest in a private placement offering of securities and sent several customers a one-page document entitled “use of proceeds” for an entity that was not the offering’s issuer.

Carlos Francisco Otalvaro aka Francisco Hormillosa Otalvaro (Coral Gables, Florida) was named as a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that the customer demanded that Carlos Otalvaro, who controlled and may still control the firm’s finances, return her funds; but Otalvaro failed to do so, thereby misusing customer funds.

Blum Law Group is a nationally-recognized securities law firm dedicated to representing investors worldwide for their claims for losses due to stockbroker misconduct and brokerage firm negligence involving stocks, bonds, commodities and other products. Contact us at 877-STOCK-LAW (877-786-2552) or silver@stockattorneys.com for a free consultation.