It’s called the FINRA BrokerCheck, people, and before you give some schmloe your money, it wouldn’t hurt to use it. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges today against a New York-based fund manager named Jason J. Konior, who allegedly sold $11 million worth of limited partnerships in his Absolute Fund LP, then siphoned proceeds to pay redemptions from earlier investors. So, like, a pyramid scheme.
And poor you if you invested. On the other hand, a quick search on the aforementioned BrokerCheck might have saved you a penny. For it turns out that Mr. Konior, who billed himself on his blog as “an investment advisor in New York with many years of outstanding experience,” amassed a laundry list of compliance violations, including:
in 2008, a $10,000 fine levied under the Connecticut Uniform Securities Act for acting as an unregistered agent;
in 2007, a license suspension for recommending a client purchase more than $200,000 in a “volatile and speculative” stock, for which Mr. Konior did not have reasonable grounds to think his client was well-suited;
in 2006, a license suspension for failing to pay an arbitration award;
in 2005, a $3,000 settlement for executing a trade that was unsuitable to a client’s knowledge or financial situation;
in 2003, a $9,999 settlement for unauthorized trading on behalf of a client;
in 2003, a $150,000 settlement for “excessive trading.”
Not to mention a guilty plea for petit larceny and a conviction for assault in the third degree. Did we mention that he worked for 17 different securities firms between 1996 and 2005? All of which is indeed rather outstanding.
http://brokercheck.finra.org/Individual/IndividualSummary.aspx?SearchGroup=Individual&FirmKey=-1&BrokerKey=2818111