Manuel Mejia-Gomez, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, a stockbroker formerly associated with Popular Securities LLC, has been fined $15,000.00 and suspended from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity after consenting to findings that he effected transactions in customer accounts without authorization. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, No. 2015044285701 (Dec. 13, 2016).
According to the AWC, from August of 2014 to October of 2014, three transactions had been effected by Mejia-Gomez in the account of customer MF, despite Mejia-Gomez failing to have requisite approval for placing the trades. The firm reportedly discovered Mejia-Gomez’s conduct after the customer had lodged a complaint. FINRA found that Mejia-Gomez’s conduct in this regard was violative of FINRA Rule 2010.
The AWC additionally revealed that from March of 2014 to December of 2014, discretionary authority had been utilized by Mejia-Gomez in three customer accounts. Apparently, in several circumstances, securities had been liquidated by Mejia-Gomez in customer MPP’s accounts; however, Mejia-Gomez lacked the authority to effect such liquidations.
Further, Mejia-Gomez reportedly failed to follow bond liquidation instructions from a representative authorized to transact on MPP’s account. Particularly, Mejia-Gomez failed to honor the representative’s instructions, and liquidated different securities based upon instructions from an employee of MPP who did not have any authority to make decisions concerning the accounts owned by MPP.
The AWC further detailed that in December of 2014, Mejia-Gomez exercised unauthorized discretion in customer BG’s account. Specifically, the AWC stated that fourteen mutual funds had been liquidated by Mejia-Gomez in BG’s accounts, with thirteen funds having been subsequently purchased.
Additionally, in December of 2014, a mutual fund had been sold by Mejia-Gomez in the account of customer BG, in which Mejia-Gomez purchased a separate mutual fund with the proceeds. Apparently, Mejia-Gomez took instructions from an individual who was not authorized to transact on BG’s accounts.
In addition to the customers not authorizing Mejia-Gomez to exercise discretion in their accounts, the firm reportedly never deemed such customers’ accounts to be approved for purposes of discretionary trading. As such, FINRA found that Mejia-Gomez’s conduct was violative of FINRA Rule 2010 and NASD Rule 2510(b).
FINRA Public Disclosure reveals that Mejia-Gomez has been subject to five events concerning allegations of misconduct. Particularly, on September 22, 2011, a customer brought an investment related arbitration claim involving Mejia-Gomez’s conduct, in which the customer requested $13,380.00 in damages based upon allegations that Mejia-Gomez failed to follow the customer’s investment instructions, which caused the customer to bear principal loss.
Subsequently, on December 15, 2014, a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim regarding Mejia-Gomez’s actions was settled for $15,197.17 in damages based upon allegations that Mejia-Gomez effected unauthorized securities purchases in the customer’s account. Finally, on August 3, 2016, another customer initiated investment related arbitration action involving Mejia-Gomez’s conduct was settled for $50,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Mejia-Gomez committed misconduct regarding investments a customer purchased with proceeds from a reverse mortgage.
On January 17, 2015, Mejia-Gomez’s registration with Popular Securities, LLC was terminated based upon the firm’s allegations that Mejia-Gomez effected trades on an unauthorized basis in order to generate commissions from such transactions.
Guiliano Law Group
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