Chams Khwaja (also known as Sean Khwaja) of Melville New York a stockbroker formerly registered with Worden Capital Management LLC has been charged by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in a Complaint alleging that he failed to comply with a FINRA investigation into allegations of his unapproved outside business activities. Department of Enforcement v. Chams Khwaja Disciplinary Proceeding No. 2019063626701 (Apr. 1, 2020).
According to the Complaint, in August of 2019, an unnamed stockbroker became the subject of a FINRA investigation focused on allegations of him engaging in numerous outside business activities without having provided his securities broker dealer employer with written notification beforehand. The Complaint alleged that the stockbroker potentially had an affiliation with two different companies – one of which was also subject of a FINRA investigation.
FINRA personnel procured recorded testimony from the stockbroker on January 9, 2020 at which time the stockbroker allegedly mentioned that the companies had operated out of the same location as the one that the stockbroker used for engaging in securities business. Allegedly, the stockbroker confirmed that Khwaja engaged in outside business activities with these companies. At least one of the companies was purportedly incorporated prior to Khwaja’s registration with Worden Capital Management being terminated.
The Complaint stated that Khwaja failed to respond to FINRA’s January 15, 2020 request for documentation and information relating to his role with the companies. Khwaja allegedly received a second request from FINRA which went unanswered by the January 31, 2020 deadline. FINRA Department of Enforcement alleges that Khwaja’s failure to comply with these requests constituted the violation of Rules 2010 and 8210.
