Jacob Robert Craton of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida submitted an AWC in which he was assessed a deferred fine of $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 45 days. Craton did not admit or deny FINRA’s findings but consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he knowingly circumvented his firm’s supervisory system and procedures, pertaining to penny stock transactions, by altering the conditions of an order to bypass principal review and approval. He also deprived the firm of the chance to review, approve, and otherwise supervise the transaction in accordance with its system and procedures.

Stephen Young Dealy of Port Orange, Florida submitted an AWC in which he was assessed a deferred fine of $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for four months. Dealy did not admit or deny FINRA’s findings but consented to the sanctions and entry of findings that he willfully failed to timely amend his Form U4 to disclose a federal tax lien. He additionally failed to report written complaints he received from his customers to the firm, thereby causing his firm to violate its obligation to report the complaints to FINRA.

Michael A. Greer of Mechanicsville, Virginia submitted an AWC in which he was assessed a deferred fine of $7,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for six months. Greer did not admit or deny FINRA’s findings but consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he falsified records and his firm’s books. After submitting change of broker forms to the custodian of customers’ mutual fund accounts, Greer was alerted that his customers had signed the wrong form. Instead of having his customers sign new forms, Greer electronically affixed, without the customers’ knowledge or authorization, copies of their signatures on the correct form, which he then submitted to the custodian and his member firm.

Shannon S. Hampton of Bossier City, Louisiana submitted an Offer of Settlement in which she was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for four months. Hampton did not admit or deny FIRNA’s findings but consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that she engaged in check kiting by writing checks totaling $2,675 against her personal bank account that she knew contained insufficient funds, and depositing each check into a retail bank checking account. Hampton deposited the checks to benefit temporarily from the “float” on them and derive the use and benefit of the funds from the time they were credited to her account until other funds were deposited into the accounts.

Thomas Lucian Hines III of Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina submitted an AWC in which he was assessed a deferred fine of $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for one month. Hines did not admit or deny FINRA’s findings but consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he falsified an insurance document by signing an insurance customer’s signature on the document without the customer’s knowledge, authorization or consent. Hines signed the customer’s name on a form that falsely acknowledged the customer’s receipt of an insurance policy when in fact the customer had not yet received delivery of the policy.

Russell Darin Hurley of Signal Mountain, Tennessee submitted an AWC in which he was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 30 days. Hurley did not admit or deny FINRA’s findings but consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he loaned $30,000 to a customer of his member firm but failed to notify the firm or obtain its advance written approval of the loan. Hurley made an inaccurate statement on his firm’s annual compliance questionnaire related to his outside activity of lending to the customer.

If you or someone you know has lost money as a result of an investment or Ponzi scheme, please contact Richard Frankowski at 888-741-7503 to discuss your potential legal remedies or complete the contact form.