Securities Lawyers Blog
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently found that broker Ralph Calabro (Calabro) churned the brokerage account of Dudley Williams (Williams). The SEC decision ordered Calabro to: (1) cease and desist from committing fraud in violation of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5; (2) be barred from association with a broker, dealer, investment adviser, (3) disgorge $282,000 plus prejudgment interest, and (4) pay civil penalties of $150,000. In addition, at least six customer complaints have been initiated against Calabro alleging churning, unsuitable investments, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty.
The SEC allegations against Calabro also involved several other J.P. Turner & Company, LLC (JP Turner) registered representatives including Michael Bresner (Bresner), Jason Konner (Konner), and Dimitrios Koutsoubos (Koutsoubos). The SEC alleged that Calabro, Konner, and Koutsoubos between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2009, churned the accounts of seven customers by engaging in excessive trading for their own gains in disregard of their clients’ investment objectives and risk tolerances. The SEC alleged that Calabro, Konner, and Koutsoubos generated commissions, fees, and margin interest totaling approximately $845,000, while the clients suffered aggregate losses of approximately $2,700,000.
JP Turner is a registered broker-dealer headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with two majority owners. From 2008 to 2009, JP Turner had between 180 and 200 branch offices, most of which were small or one-person offices. There were approximately five hundred registered representatives in JP Turner’s offices in 2008 and 2009. Calabro joined JP Turner in 2004 and left in 2011. Thereafter, Calabro became associated with National Securities Corp. (National Securities) as a registered representative but not a securities principal. While at JP Turner, Calabro acted as a principal and registered representative in JP Turner’s Parlin, New Jersey office. Calabro’s customer base increased from ten in 2004 to seventy by 2010.