Securities Arbitration Lawyer Blog
FINRA has suspended financial advisor Jamie I. Sanchez Rivera (CRD #6013022) from the securities industry for five months and fined him $10,000. Jamie I. Sanchez Rivera was a stockbroker at First Southern, LLC in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, from April 2017 until May 2020.
First Southern, LLC fired Mr. Sanchez Rivera in May 2020, alleging the following:
- Sanchez Rivera failed to immediately advise the firm of a customer’s complaint regarding an investment recommendation that he made, in violation of firm policy.
- In response to the customer complaint, Mr. Sanchez Rivera negotiated his own settlement, away from the firm, without advising the firm, to avoid the need to disclose the settlement, in violation of firm policy.
- In connection with the undisclosed settlement with the complaining customer. Mr. Sanchez Rivera took documents off the desk of the firm principal, copied those documents, and altered them, without the principal’s knowledge or permissions, to give the false impression to the complaining customer that he owned a financial stake in a fund, which stake was going to be used to fund the undisclosed settlement.
Before working at First Southern, LLC, Mr. Sanchez Rivera was a financial advisor at Herbert J. Sims & Co. Inc., from May 2014 through May 2017.
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FINRA Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent No. 2020066775501
Jaime I. Sanchez Rivera and FINRA entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (“AWC”) on December 23, 2020, over allegations related that in June 2019, Mr. Sanchez Rivera falsified a business document, forged a third-party’s signature on the document, and later misled his employer about the purpose of the falsification. FINRA also alleged that in May 2020, Mr. Sanchez Rivera falsified a second business document. Specifically, FINRA alleged:
In 2019, one of Sanchez Rivera’s customers was required by a court order in a divorce proceeding to document his assets.
- These assets included a $206,500 debt that Mr. Sanchez Rivera owed the customer for consultancy services rendered by the customer for Mr. Sanchez Rivera in 2012.
- Sanchez Rivera was embarrassed that he still had not paid his customer for these services and did not want to document his outstanding debt.
- Accordingly, rather than provide the customer with evidence of this debt, Mr. Sanchez Rivera decided to falsify a document to show that his customer possessed an asset valued at $206,500.
- On June 19, 2019, Mr. Sanchez Rivera modified a term sheet describing a real estate transaction involving the purchase of senior living housing units by a limited liability company to falsely show that the customer owned an interest in the units valued at $206,500.
- Sanchez Rivera forged the signature of the LLC’s managing partner on the document.
- In May 2020, the customer provided the falsified term sheet to First Southern Securities, LLC in connection with questions the customer had about his account’s status.
- The firm questioned Sanchez, who admitted that he had falsified the document and forged the signature of the LLC’s manager.
- Sanchez Rivera, however, did not want the firm to know that he owed a debt to his customer. So, rather than admit to the debt, Mr. Sanchez Rivera misinformed the firm that the purpose of the falsification and forgery was to show the customer that Mr. Sanchez Rivera would make the customer whole for trading losses incurred at a prior firm where Mr. Sanchez Rivera was the broker of record.
- Additionally, in connection with his customer’s divorce proceedings, the customer was ordered to obtain life insurance naming his children as beneficiaries.
- Before the life insurance company would issue a policy, it required that the customer provide a list of his assets.
- Accordingly, to assist his customer in obtaining life insurance, on May 6, 2020, Mr. Sanchez Rivera provided the customer with a promissory note falsely representing that Mr. Sanchez Rivera owed the customer $250,000.
FINRA asserted that Mr. Sanchez Rivera violated FINRA Rule 2010 by falsifying business documents, committing forgery, and providing false himation to his employer. FINRA Rule 2010 requires brokers to observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade in the conduct of their business.
According to Mr. Sanchez Rivera’s public disclosure report, this is not the first time he has been in trouble with a government regulatory body. In May 2012, Mr. Sanchez Rivera was suspended for five years by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for failing to pay a license fee to use radioactive material.
Financial Advisor Jaime Issac Sanchez Rivera (CRD#: 6013022)
Jaime I. Sanchez Rivera has eight years of experience in the securities industry. He was employed and registered by the following brokerage firms in Puerto Rico:
- RD Capital Group, Inc. from March 2012 until May 2014.
- Herbert J. Sims & Co. Inc. from May 2014 until May 2017.
- First Southern Securities, LLC from April 2017 until May 2020.
Even though Mr. Sanchez River has only eight years of experience in the securities industry, Mr. Sanchez Rivera has been the subject of three customer complaints:
- In June 2017, a customer alleged that from January 2016 to April 2017, while employed by Herbert J. Sims & Co. Inc., Mr. Sanchez Rivera used margin without authorization and misrepresented an investment, believed to be Puerto Rico municipal bonds.
- In December 2017, a customer alleged that from April 2014 to April 2017, while employed by Herbert J. Sims & Co. Inc., Mr. Sanchez Rivera entered trades and used margin without her authorization.
- In May 2020, a customer alleged that Mr. Sanchez Rivera falsified documents that he provided the customer reflecting that he had ownership in a fund, which he did not.
Iorio Altamirano LLP is a securities arbitration law firm based in New York, NY. We pursue FINRA arbitration claims nationwide on behalf of investors to recover financial losses arising out of wrongful conduct by financial advisors and brokerage firms.
If you have suffered investment losses, contact New York securities arbitration lawyer Jorge Altamirano of Iorio Altamirano LLP at jorge@ia-law.com or toll-free at (855) 430-4010 for a free and confidential review of your account.
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