Abdul Matin Rahmani of Mineola New York a stockbroker formerly registered with Joseph Stone Capital LLC has been barred from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity based upon a FINRA Office of Hearing Officer’s Order Accepting Offer of Settlement containing findings that Rahmani engaged in outside business activities which he did not disclose to Joseph Stone Capital for approval, and failed to cooperate with a FINRA investigation relating to his outside business activities. Department of Enforcement v. Abdul Matin Rahmani Disciplinary Proceeding No. 2019063626703 (November 2, 2021).
According to the Order, from October of 2018 to March of 2019, when Rahmani was employed by Joseph Stone Capital, he took part in outside business activities involving Axe Marketing Group LLC (also known as Access Pre IPO and Axe M. Group). Rahmani did not tell Joseph Stone Capital about Axe Marketing as required by the firm’s policies and FINRA rules.
According to the Order, AXE Marketing sold pre-initial public offering shares to investors. Prospective Axe Marketing customers were solicited by Rahmani. They met with him regarding the investments in the pre-IPO companies. FINRA indicated that Rahmani conducted his securities business in the same location as he met with prospective Axe Marketing customers.
FINRA began an investigation into his outside business activities. He was asked by the regulator to provide information, including the bank accounts under his control and the email addresses that he used. In responding to the regulator, Rahmani did not mention an email address tied to an Access Pre IPO domain name. There was no mention by Rahmani of four bank accounts established around October of 2018 when Axe Marketing was created.
FINRA also stated that Rahmani lied when he testified about his activities. The stockbroker purportedly claimed that he was not involved in Axe Marketing. Rahmani told FINRA that he did not use any email address for Axe Marketing – and that statement came after providing FINRA with emails that listed the email account tied to Access Pre IPO’s domain name. Rahmani’s false testimony came after he closed bank accounts which he did not tell FINRA about when he was investigated.
The Order states that the regulator’s investigation led to its requests for additional documents and information from Rahmani. These requests related to four bank accounts established by Rahmani in October of 2018. According to the Order, Rahmani did not disclose information on at least two of the accounts.
Rahmani violated FINRA Rules 2010 and 3270 for engaging in outside business activities. The regulator also found that he violated FINRA Rules 2010 and 8210 for providing misleading or false testimony and providing incomplete responses during the investigation. He separately violated FINRA Rules 2010 and 8210 because of failing to provide documents and information.
Rahmani was associated with SW Financial between August 22, 2016, and December 15, 2017, at which point he was discharged founded on accusations of outside business activities. He was registered with Worden Capital Management LLC between December 20, 2017, and May 17, 2018, and registered with Joseph Stone Capital between June 1, 2018, and August 17, 2020.
