The White Law Group, LLC » Jacksonville

Former ING Financial Parterns and John Hancokc Mutual Life Insurance Company financial advisor, Michael J. DiMare, barred from securities industry for securities violations including misappropriation of client funds.

CarterPA — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:25:36 +0000

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently announced that it has permanently barred Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, registered representative Michael J. DiMare, formerly registered with ING Financial Partners, Inc., from the securities industry for misappropriating over $1.9 million in client funds – while making false statements and sending falsified account statements and other documents statements to his customers to hide his scheme.

FINRA found that from at least 2001 to 2008, DiMare persuaded his clients to invest in fictitious financial products, including what purported to be tax-free corporate bonds and CDs. Between 2001 and 2006, DiMare was employed as a sales manager with John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company. Between October 2006 and May 2008, DiMare was registered as a registered representative/insurance agent with ING Financial Partners, Inc.

FINRA’s investigation found that 14 of DiMare’s clients wrote checks payable to John Hancock, believing they were making legitimate investments. DiMare simply collected the checks and deposited them in his own bank account and diverted their funds to his personal use. Even after he left John Hancock, DiMare made false statements to his customers by telling them he was still employed at that firm and had them write checks to John Hancock, which he then converted to his own use.

To conceal his misconduct, DiMare prepared and provided his clients with false account statements purporting to be from John Hancock. Those statements falsely indicated that the clients owned investments in tax-free corporate bonds and CDs.

In concluding this settlement, DiMare neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings.

If you have questions about investments you made with Michael DiMare, or if you believe that you have been the victim of a securities fraud, the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. may be able to help. David A. Carter is a securities lawyer based in Boca Raton, Florida. He reviews securities fraud cases throughout the country and Florida, including reviewing securities fraud cases in Ponte Vedra Beach, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Fernandina Beach, Palm Coast, Ormond Beach, and New Smyrna Beach. For more information on the firm’s securities fraud practice, please visit http://www.carterpa.com. To contact the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A., please call 561-750-6999 or email us at contact@carterpa.com.

Dennis Ray Thompson Sr. and Dennis Ray Thompson Jr (both of Jacksonville, Florida ) investigated by FINRA

CarterPA — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:45:36 +0000

FINRA recently announced that Dennis Ray Thompson Sr. has been barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Additionally, Dennis Ray Thompson Jr. has been suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two years.

Without admitting or denying the findings, the Thompsons consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that they offered and sold investments in an unregistered hedge fund and its general partner using representations and sales materials that contained materially misleading statements and omissions of fact. The findings further stated that the information that was supplied by the hedge fund manager and used recklessly by the Thompsons to solicit investors contained materially false and misleading statements and omissions concerning, among other facts, a pending Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) securities fraud action against the hedge fund manager, the fund’s theoretical and unproven performance figures, the speculative nature of the fund’s trading strategy, and the significant risks associated with an investment in the hedge fund and its general partner. The findings also stated that the Thompsons solicited investors without conducting a reasonable investigation to determine whether the hedge fund and its general partner were suitable investments and without regard as to whether certain investors were capable of evaluating and bearing the risks associated with such investments. Finally, the findings also included that the Thompsons failed to disclose to their member firm that they were engaged in private securities transactions for compensation.

According to his FINRA Broker Report (CRD), Dennis Ray Thompson Sr. was a registered financial advisor with Wellstone Securities, LLC, a FINRA registered broker-dealer from Jacksonville , Florida , from December 2002 through December 2007. Prior to that, he was a financial advisor with Consumer Concepts Investments, Inc., a FINRA registered broker-dealer based in Austell , Georgia . In addition to also working at Wellstone Securities, LLC and Consumer Concepts Investments, Inc., Dennis Ray Thompson Jr. worked as a financial advisor with Cambridge Legacy Securities, LLC, a FINRA registered broker-dealer based in Dallas, Texas, from November 2007 through December 2009.

If you have questions about investments you made with Dennis Ray Thompson Sr. or Jr., or if you believe that you have been the victim of a securities fraud, the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. may be able to help. David A. Carter is a securities lawyer based in Boca Raton, Florida. He reviews securities fraud cases throughout the country and Florida, including reviewing securities fraud cases in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Fernandina Beach, Palm Coast, Daytona Beach, and Orlando. For more information on the firm’s securities fraud practice, please visit http://www.carterpa.com. To contact the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A., please call 561-750-6999 or email us at contact@carterpa.com.

Jacksonville, Florida Securities Fraud Attorney

CarterPA — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:10:14 +0000

The Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. is a South Florida securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and Chapter 7 bankruptcy law firm based in Boca Raton, Florida.
The Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. has its office in Boca Raton, Florida because of the obvious benefits of being located so close to FINRA Dispute Resolutions’ Southeast headquarters (FINRA’s Southeast office is located at Boca Center Tower 1, 5200 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33486- less than one mile from our office).
Having our office located so close to FINRA’s Southeast headquarters has its advantages, particularly since all cases filed in the southeast portion of the United States are administered out of FINRA’s Boca Raton, Florida Dispute Resolution office. In fact, any securities fraud cases filed with FINRA on behalf of a customer living in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Virginia, Puerto Rico, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. will likely be assigned to FINRA’s Southeast Region office and administered out of the Boca Raton, Florida office.
Although located in Boca Raton, Florida, the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. handles securities fraud cases throughout Florida and the country, including reviewing and handling securities fraud cases in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Fernandina Beach, Palm Coast, Daytona Beach, and Orlando.
It should be noted, that in addition to Boca Raton, Florida, FINRA Dispute Resolution’s Southeast Region has hearing locations for investor claims/securities fraud cases in Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Birmingham, Alabama; Charlotte, North Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Jackson, Mississippi; Jacksonville, Florida; Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; Miami, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; Norfolk, Virginia; Orlando, Florida; Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Tampa, Florida; Washington, DC; and Wilmington, Delaware. Accordingly, just because a case filed in the Southeast portion of the country is administered by FINRA’s Boca Raton, Florida office, does not mean that a customer’s case will be heard in Boca Raton. Generally speaking, FINRA will select the hearing location closest to the investor’s residence. The Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. is set up to handle securities fraud cases at any of FINRA’s hearing locations.
To contact the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A., please call 561-750-6999, or email us at contact@carterpa.com. For more information about the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. or securities fraud, you can also visit our website at http://www.carterpa.com.

Jamik Jamar Ligon, formerly of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incorporated in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Rocco Anthony Mongelli, of Peak Securities Corporation in Largo, Florida, fined and suspended by FINRA for securities violations.

CarterPA — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:06:49 +0000

FINRA recently announced that Jamik Jamar Ligon, formerly of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incorporated in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Rocco Anthony Mongelli, of Peak Securities Corporation in Largo, Florida, were fined and suspended by FINRA. Ligon was fined $7,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two months. Mongelli was fined $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for three months. Without admitting or denying the findings, Ligon and Mongelli consented to the entry of findings that Ligon paid Mongelli a $50,000 referral compensation fee when Mongelli referred brokerage customers to Ligon because he was not registered to do business in the states of residence for those referred customers, and Ligon subsequently served as the registered representative for the accounts.

According to Jamik Ligon’s FINRA Broker Report (CRD), prior to working for Merrill Lynch, Ligon was a registered representative (financial advisors) with Franklin Ross, Inc. and Fordham Financial Management, Inc. According to Rocco Mongelli’s FINRA Broker Reports (CRD), prior to working at Peak Securities Corporation, Mongelli was a registered representative (broker) with Franklin Ross, Inc. and VFinance Investments, Inc.

If you have questions about investments you made with Ligon, Mongelli, Merrill Lynch or Peak Securities, or if you believe that you have been the victim of a securities fraud, the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. may be able to help. The Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. is a South Florida securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and Chapter 7 bankruptcy law firm based in Boca Raton. David Carter is a securities attorney that reviews securities fraud cases throughout the country and Florida, including securities cases in Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, Tallahassee, Gainesville, and West Palm Beach. To contact the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A., please call 561-750-6999, or email us at contact@carterpa.com. For more information about the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A., you can also visit our website at www.carterpa.com.

Andres Luis Delmas, in Miami, Florida, fined by FINRA and suspended for 60 days.

CarterPA — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:20:37 +0000

FINRA recently announced that Andres Luis Delmas, in Miami, Florida, has been fined $15,000 by FINRA and suspended from association with any FINRA member firm in any capacity for 60 days. Without admitting or denying, Andres Delmas consented to findings that he made unsuitable recommendations to customers to buy inverse floater Collateralized Mortgage Obligation (CMO) securities. The findings further stated that Delmas did not have reasonable grounds to believe that the CMO’s were suitable for the customers in light of their investment experience, objectives and risk tolerances. Finally, FINRA’s findings indicate that Delmas’ customers lost more than $163,000 as a result of these unsuitable inverse floater CMO investments.

A collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) is a financial debt vehicle that was first created in June 1983 by the investment banks Salomon Brothers and First Boston for Freddie Mac.

Legally, a collateralized mortgage obligation is a special purpose entity that is wholly separate from the institution(s) that create it. The entity is the legal owner of a set of mortgages, called a pool. Investors in a CMO buy bonds issued by the entity, and receive payments according to a defined set of rules. The mortgages themselves are called the collateral, the bonds are called tranches (also called classes), and the set of rules that dictates how money received from the collateral will be distributed is called the structure. The legal entity, collateral, and structure are collectively referred to as the deal.

If you questions about investments you made with Andres Luis Delmas or in Collateralized Mortgage Obligations, or if you believe that you have been the victim of a securities fraud, the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. may be able to help. The Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. is a South Florida securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and Chapter 7 bankruptcy law firm based in Boca Raton. David Carter is a securities attorney that reviews securities fraud cases throughout the country and Florida, including securities cases in Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, Tallahassee, Gainesville, and West Palm Beach. To contact the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A., please call 561-750-6999, or email us at contact@carterpa.com. For more information about the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A., you can also visit our website at www.carterpa.com.