Why Hasn't NASD Reported Asensio's Expulsion to the Membership?
It Reported Others from January 2005 in the February 2005 Report.
When a
hearing panel of NASD bars someone from the securities industry, it is
reported to the membership in a
monthly disciplinary report. Unless the barred individual is Manuel
Asensio. Then, the kid gloves come out and
gag the "tough, even-handed enforcement" that NASD insists is at
the core of its regulatory program.
Below are example of how expulsions from the
industry are reported in the disciplinary report, even when
the
bar has been stayed because the affected
party has appealed the ruling—as is the case with Asensio.
Asensio has received special
treatment, and NASD needs to explain why. It should also tell
us why those who have
worked to help Asensio keep a
fraudulently-obtained broker-dealer license that should have been taken from him
in 2003, if not earlier, should
not be expelled from the NASD staff.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * *
NASD Hearing Panel Expels Yankee Financial for Fraud,
Orders
Payment of More Than $3.8 Million in Restitution
Yankee President Richard
Kresge Barred From Acting as
Principal or Supervisor
An NASD Hearing Panel expelled Yankee
Financial Group,
Inc.of Melville, NY —and barred Yankee President Richard
Kresge (CRD No. 729077) from associating with any NASD-
registered firm
as a principal or in any supervisory capacity—
forengaging in fraudulent,
high-pressure, boiler-room operations.
The panel ordered the firm and
Kresge to pay 10 customers
more than $3.8 million in restitution, plus
interest and costs.
The case against Kresge and Yankee was the product
of
NASD’s investigation into a high-pressure, boiler-room type
operation
of a Yankee branch office in Brooklyn, NY in the fall
of 2001 and spring of
2002. The investigation resulted in
permanent bars for related fraudulent
conduct against 12
registered individuals employed by Yankee and two other
firms
involved the fraudulent scheme.
Brokers in Yankee’s Brooklyn branch office
used high-pressure
sales tactics, fraudulent misrepresentations, baseless
price
predictions, and omissions of material facts to persuade
investors
to purchase shares of three highly speculative OTCBB
securities: Silver Star
Foods, Inc., Western Media Group Corp.,
and Golden Chief Resources, Inc.
Yankee brokers in many
instances targeted sales of these stocks to elderly
persons for
whom they were patently unsuitable.
The Hearing Panel held that, “Yankee and
Kresge are liable for
… [the] violations by the brokers in the Brooklyn
office”
because they were the brokers’ employers and ultimate
supervisors,
with the duty to establish guidelines for brokers’
conduct and to monitor
brokers’ adherence to those
guidelines. The Hearing Panel concluded that
Kresge’s
performance of due diligence in reviewing the backgrounds
of
brokers hired to staff the Brooklyn branch office was
“grossly
insufficient.” The panel noted that his “indifference to
every
aspect of its operation except its financial success was
reckless
and failed to prevent injury to the investing public.”
NASD NTM_DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FEBRUARY 2005
26
NASD’s surveillance of the OTCBB and investigation of market
activity
in the three securities identified a number of
individuals who participated
in the fraud who were affiliated
with Yankee and two other firms, Sierra
Brokerage Services of
Columbus, OH and Argus Securities of Hallandale, FL. As
a
consequence, 12 individuals have been barred, including:
• Kenneth Gliwa (CRD. No. 1087236), Yankee’s
former Vice
President, who settled charges that he failed to supervise
the
Brooklyn branch office, allowed two unregistered
persons to hire brokers and
operate the branch office,
failed to conduct any meaningful review of the
three
securities to evaluate their suitability for the firm’s
customers,
and allowed the firm to operate without any
written supervisory
procedures;
• Gary Giordano (CRD No. 2722480), former
Yankee
branch office manger, who settled charges of employing
fraudulent
sales practices, making unsuitable
recommendations and failing to supervise
brokers in the
Brooklyn branch office;
• Jeffrey Richardson (CRD No. 736249),
Sierra’s President
and head trader, who settled charges that he
participated
in an unlawful distribution of unregistered
shares,
generating millions of dollars for offshore entities
controlled by
the two individuals who owned and
operated the Yankee Brooklyn branch
office;
• Lawrence Dugo (CRD No. 2555823), a Yankee
broker,
and Samuel Barmapov (CRD No. 4245309), an Argus
broker, who
settled charges they used fraudulent sales
practices in recommending shares
to investors;
• Joseph Ferragamo (CRD No. 2868601), one of
the
owners of the Yankee Brooklyn branch office; Yankee
brokers Vasily
Kouznetsov (a.k.a. David Anderson) (CRD
No. 4163388), Eric Cenname (CRD No.
2207772) and
Adam Klein (CRD No. 2686322); John Cook (CRD No.
1900910),
Argus’ former President; John Klukewycz (CRD
No. 2477332), a former Argus
branch manager; and Ilian
Shteinberg (CRD No. 3208021), a former Argus
broker,
were all barred for failing to appear and testify in
connection
with NASD’s investigation.
Yankee Financial
Group, Inc., and Richard Kresge have
appealed the Hearing Panel’s decision to
NASD’s National
Adjudicatory Council.
===================================
from the same issue, an article bearing the
following headline:
NASD
Panel Expels Florida Brokerage LH Ross,
Orders Nearly $12 Million in Fines,
Restitution;
Issues First Permanent Cease and Desist
Order