THE SEC CHARGES FORMER JP TURNER COMPANY BROKER DIMITRIOS KOUTSOUBOS FOR CHURNING CLIENT ACCOUNTS

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged former JP Turner and Company broker Dimitrios Koutsoubos for churning client accounts with conservative investment objectives. Mr. Koutsoubos's churning activity caused severe losses for clients, while he collected hefty fees. He served as a JP Turner registered representative from July 2000 until August 2009, and he is currently a registered representative at Caldwell International Securities.

Churning is a fraudulent practice in which brokers ignore their clients' investment objectives and engage in excessive trading for the purpose of generating commissions. The SEC alleged that between January 2008 and December 2009, Mr. Koutsoubos churned two client accounts, which suffered approximate losses of $193,000.00. The SEC said that the trading in the accounts were excessive in light of Mr. Koutsoubos's customers' objectives, experience, age, and needs. Mr. Koutsoubos split commissions, fees, and margin interest totaling $845,000.00 with two other brokers accused by the SEC for churning client accounts at JP Turner. An administrative proceeding by the SEC against Mr. Koutsoubos is currently pending.

Broker-dealers must establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system to protect customers from churning and similar abuses. If broker-dealers do not establish a reasonable supervisory system, they may be liable to investors for damages. In the case of JP Turner, the SEC found that adequate procedures were not implemented to detect and prevent churning. Therefore, investors who have suffered damages can bring forth claims to recover losses against JP Turner due to Mr. Koutsoubos's churning.

Have you suffered losses as a result of Dimitrios Koutsoubos's churning? Did you have an actively traded account with Mr. Koutsoubos that the SEC did not review? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation.

The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.

THE SEC CHARGES FORMER JP TURNER COMPANY BROKER JASON KONNER FOR CHURNING CLIENT ACCOUNTS

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged former JP Turner and Company broker Jason Konner for churning client accounts with conservative investment objectives. Mr. Konner's churning activity caused severe losses for clients, while he collected hefty fees. He served as a JP Turner registered representative from September 2006 until December 2011, and he is currently a registered representative at DPEC Capital, Inc.

Churning is a fraudulent practice in which brokers ignore their clients' investment objectives and engage in excessive trading for the purpose of generating commissions. The SEC alleged that between January 2008 and December 2009, Mr. Konner churned two client accounts, which suffered approximate losses of $134,000.00. The SEC said that the trading in the accounts were excessive in light of Mr. Konner's customers' objectives, experience, age, and needs. Mr. Konner split commissions, fees, and margin interest totaling $845,000.00 with two other brokers accused by the SEC for churning client accounts at JP Turner. An administrative proceeding by the SEC against Mr. Konner is currently pending.

Broker-dealers must establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system to protect customers from churning and similar abuses. If broker-dealers do not establish a reasonable supervisory system, they may be liable to investors for damages. In the case of JP Turner, the SEC found that adequate procedures were not implemented to detect and prevent churning. Therefore, investors who have suffered damages can bring forth claims to recover losses against JP Turner due to Mr. Konner's churning.

Have you suffered losses as a result of Jason Konner's churning? Did you have an actively traded account with Mr. Konner that the SEC did not review? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation.

The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.

THE SEC CHARGES FORMER JP TURNER COMPANY BROKER RALPH CALABRO FOR CHURNING CLIENT ACCOUNTS

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged former JP Turner and Company broker Ralph Calabro for churning client accounts with conservative investment objectives. Mr. Calabro's churning activity caused severe losses for clients, while he collected hefty fees. He served as a registered representative of the Parlin, NJ branch office from March 2004 until January 2007, and he is currently a registered representative at National Securities Corp.

Churning is a fraudulent practice in which brokers ignore their clients' investment objectives and engage in excessive trading for the purpose of generating commissions. The SEC alleged that between January 2008 and December 2009, Mr. Calabro churned three client accounts, which suffered approximate losses of $2.3 million. The SEC said that the trading in the accounts were excessive in light of Mr. Calabro's customers' objectives, experience, age, and needs. Mr. Calabro split commissions, fees, and margin interest totaling $845,000.00 with two other brokers accused by the SEC for churning client accounts at JP Turner. An administrative proceeding by the SEC against Mr. Calabro is currently pending.

Broker-dealers must establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system to protect customers from churning and similar abuses. If broker-dealers do not establish a reasonable supervisory system, they may be liable to investors for damages. In the case of JP Turner, the SEC found that adequate procedures were not implemented to detect and prevent churning. Therefore, investors who have suffered damages can bring forth claims to recover losses against JP Turner due to Mr. Calabro's churning.

Have you suffered losses as a result of Ralph Calabro's churning? Did you have an actively traded account with Mr. Calabro that the SEC did not review? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation.

The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.

THE SEC CHARGES JP TURNER AND COMPANY ALONG WITH MANAGEMENT AND THREE BROKERS FOR CHURNING

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged JP Turner and Company along with its head supervisor and president for compliance failures related to churning. Three former brokers were also charged for churning client accounts with conservative investment objectives, causing severe losses while the brokers collected hefty fees. JP Turner and the company's president, William Mello, have agreed to settle the SEC charges, while an administrative proceeding continues against the three brokers.

Churning is a fraudulent practice in which brokers ignore their clients' investment objectives and engage in excessive trading for the purpose of generating commissions. The SEC alleged that former JP Turner brokers Dimitrios Koutsoubos, Ralph Calabro, and Jason Konner churned seven client accounts between January 2008 and December 2009. Commissions, fees, and margin interest to them totaled $845,000.00, while customers suffered approximately $2.7 million in losses. All three brokers work at different firms now.

Broker-dealers must establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system to protect customers from churning and similar abuses. Executive vice president and head supervisor at JP Turner, Michael Bresner, was charged for failing to supervise Mr. Konner and Mr. Koutsoubos, who generated such astronomical commissions that it triggered a firm requirement that Mr. Bresner review the underlying trading activity. Despite several red flags, Mr. Bresner failed to take adequate action. Also, the settled order against JP Turner and the company's president, William Mello, found that adequate procedures were not implemented to detect and prevent churning. Mr. Mello was responsible for establishing and supervising the company's supervisory policies and procedures designed to detect and prevent churning. JP Turner did have a monitoring system to detect actively traded accounts, but the system imposed hardly any requirements and did not provide guidance to supervisors to review the accounts and take meaningful action.

The SEC's order censured JP Turner and requires payment of $200,000.00 in disgorgement, which was JP Turner's share of the commissions and fees generated by the churning. JP Turner will also have to pay $16,051.00 in prejudgment interest and a $200,000.00 penalty. In addition, Mr. Mello has been suspended from his supervisory capacity with a broker, broker-dealer, or investment adviser for a period of five months. He will have to pay a $45,000.00 penalty.

Have you suffered losses at JP Turner and Company due to churning? Did you have one of the 194 actively traded accounts serviced by Messrs. Calabro, Konner, and Koutsoubos that the SEC did not review? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation.

The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.