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A long time ago, long before there existed any whistleblower statutes, I had a client – a CCO of a broker-dealer – who discovered some pretty funky trading at his firm. As he tells the story, when he went to see his boss (who was the owner of the firm) to report his troubling discovery, the owner sidled out from behind his desk, and casually unbuttoned his suitcoat, deliberately revealing the handgun he had strapped to his belt, and told my guy, basically, that he must be mistaken about those trades. My client took the not-so-subtle hint and bid a hasty adieu and said not another word. But, from that day forward until the day he was able to find a new job, he carefully documented every trade that made him queasy. When he finally left, he took with him all that trade data and presented it, wrapped in a bow, to the SEC. Fast forward: the SEC, as well as the DOJ, brought actions against the owner, and my client
SEC: Father and Son Duo Misled Investors The charges against Michael and David Sztrom were filed late last week and are one of two complaints against advisors related to a California-based RIA.
Michael Sztrom, a California-based advisor who was banned by broker/dealers from making investment recommendations, continued doing business anyway, using his son’s registered advisory firm as a front, and even impersonating his son on calls, according to a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The charge comes on the heels of another against a financial advisor, Arizona-based advisor Jacob Glick, who is charged by the commission with making concentrated stock bets with elderly clients’ funds without revealing the risks involved. The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement and civil penalties against the defendants.