Joshua William Turney of New York New York a stockbroker formerly registered with Global Arena Capital Corp has been charged by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with effecting unauthorized trading to generate commission revenue and then attempting to conceal those unauthorized transactions. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Joshua W. Turney et al. Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-01625 (Mar. 31, 2020).
According to the SEC Complaint, Jonah Engler and Barbara Desiderio – who controlled Global Arena Capital Corp – as well as Turney and a fellow stockbroker Hector Perez all took part in an unauthorized trading scheme in which 4,500 trades were made in about 360 customer accounts. The Complaint alleged that unauthorized trades produced more than $2,400,000.00 in unlawful commissions, markdowns and markups for Global Arena Capital Corp. The trades allegedly caused $4,000,000.00 in losses to customers.
The Complaint stated that Turney and Perez were instructed by Engler to make unauthorized transactions. After making those transactions, Turney and Perez tried to cover up their actions through making bogus calls to customers. SEC indicated that one of their approaches involved the stockbrokers placing customers on mute when they answered the phone so that the stockbrokers could use the phone calls as a basis for falsely suggesting that customers authorized the transactions.
The Complaint stated that the system codes of other Global Arena Capital Corp stockbrokers were used for documenting trades that Turney and Perez made. SEC alleged that in one case, a Global Arena Capital Corp stockbroker was paid commissions to keep quiet about the fraudulent use of his code. The regulator pointed out that $280,000.00 was paid to Turney for effecting unlawful transactions. SEC claimed that Turney’s actions amounted to fraud in violation of Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Section 10(b), SEC Rule 10b-5(a) and (c), and Securities Act of 1933 Section 17(a)(1) and (3).
Turney has been barred from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity according to a Decision and Order of Offer of Settlement containing findings of Turney effecting the fraudulent sale of senior secured zero coupon notes via a private placement offering during the time that Turney was associated with HFP Capital Markets LLC. Department of Enforcement v. Joshua William Turney et al. Disciplinary Proceeding No. 2010024522103 (July 1, 2015).
Turney has also been identified in eleven customer initiated investment related disputes concerning accusations of his misconduct while employed by securities broker dealers including HFP Capital Markets and Global Arena Capital Corp. FINRA Public Disclosure confirms that Turney has been referenced in a customer initiated investment related complaint on May 20, 2015 where the customer sought $100,525.00 in damages founded on accusations of Turney’s unauthorized trading.
Another customer filed an investment related arbitration claim concerning Turney’s activities where the customer sought $796,500.00 in damages founded on accusations that fixed income securities were traded in excessive amounts. FINRA Arbitration No. 15-01098 (May 26, 2015).
