BROWSE BY TOPIC
- Bad Brokers
- Compliance Concepts
- Investor Protection
- Investments - Unsuitable
- Investments - Strategies
- Investments - Private
- Features/Scandals
- Companies
- Technology/Internet
- Rules & Regulations
- Crimes
- Investments
- Bad Advisors
- Boiler Rooms
- Hirings/Transitions
- Terminations/Cost Cutting
- Regulators
- Wall Street News
- General News
- Donald Trump & Co.
- Lawsuits/Arbitrations
- Regulatory Sanctions
- Big Banks
- People
TRENDING TAGS
Stories of Interest
- Sarah ten Siethoff is New Associate Director of SEC Investment Management Rulemaking Office
- Catherine Keating Appointed CEO of BNY Mellon Wealth Management
- Credit Suisse to Pay $47Mn to Resolve DOJ Asia Probe
- SEC Chair Clayton Goes 'Hat in Hand' Before Congress on 2019 Budget Request
- SEC's Opening Remarks to the Elder Justice Coordinating Council
- Massachusetts Jury Convicts CA Attorney of Securities Fraud
- Deutsche Bank Says 3 Senior Investment Bankers to Leave Firm
- World’s Biggest Hedge Fund Reportedly ‘Bearish On Financial Assets’
- SEC Fines Constant Contact, Popular Email Marketer, for Overstating Subscriber Numbers
- SocGen Agrees to Pay $1.3 Billion to End Libya, Libor Probes
- Cryptocurrency Exchange Bitfinex Briefly Halts Trading After Cyber Attack
- SEC Names Valerie Szczepanik Senior Advisor for Digital Assets and Innovation
- SEC Modernizes Delivery of Fund Reports, Seeks Public Feedback on Improving Fund Disclosure
- NYSE Says SEC Plan to Limit Exchange Rebates Would Hurt Investors
- Deutsche Bank faces another challenge with Fed stress test
- Former JPMorgan Broker Files racial discrimination suit against company
- $3.3Mn Winning Bid for Lunch with Warren Buffett
- Julie Erhardt is SEC's New Acting Chief Risk Officer
- Chyhe Becker is SEC's New Acting Chief Economist, Acting Director of Economic and Risk Analysis Division
- Getting a Handle on Virtual Currencies - FINRA
ABOUT FINANCIALISH
We seek to provide information, insights and direction that may enable the Financial Community to effectively and efficiently operate in a regulatory risk-free environment by curating content from all over the web.
Stay Informed with the latest fanancialish news.
SUBSCRIBE FOR
NEWSLETTERS & ALERTS
FOLLOW US
B/D Principal Barred, Ordered to Repay Stolen Money
February 15, 2012
[ by Melanie Gretchen ]
FINRA barred a registered principal from the industry because he allegedly diverted customer funds into his personal account. In an unusual twist, FINRA also ordered the individual to provide full restitution, plus interest, to the customer.
FINRA Findings and Allegations. Joseph Sciarra Jr. agreed to settle FINRA's allegations that he had converted a customer's funds by not applying the funds for the customer's intended purpose. The customer provided checks totaling $394,000 to Sciarra to invest in warrants. Rather than depositing the checks into the customer's firm account or purchasing the warrants and/or other securities for the customer, Sciarra cashed the checks or deposited them into a bank account. Some time after the customer's money was allegedly stolen, the customer has passed away. As of today, Sciarra has not reimbursed the customer's estate.
FINRA Sanctions. While it's expected that FINRA would bar an individual for misappropriating customer funds - especially such a large amount - it's another thing for FINRA to order the registered person to repay the customer. Yet, that was what FINRA did.
What make this sanction so unusual is: (i) FINRA rarely - perhaps 1% of the time - orders a barred individual to pay anything; and, (ii) why bother - i.e., what incentive does a person who's no longer in the industry have to make such payment? Not surprisingly, Sciarra also failed to respond to FINRA requests for information.
For more details, go to [FINRA AWC #2010022840501] and [FINRA Disciplinary Actions for January 2012].
Related Stories: Archive
-
Legal Funding Firm Accused of Scamming 9/11 Heroes, NFL Retirees
February 8, 2017 -
Elizabeth Warren, Wall Street Pariah, Now Has Lost Her Left-Wing Following
January 19, 2017 -
What We Know and Don’t Know About the Trump-Russia Dossier
January 11, 2017