National investment loss lawyers KlaymanToskes is investigating Phoenix Financial Services, Inc. (“PHX Financial”) brokers/financial advisors in Hauppauge, NY with significant FINRA disclosure histories, including investor complaints, disciplinary actions, and previous employment disclosure allegations.
KlaymanToskes encourages investors to use FINRA’s free BrokerCheck tool to learn more about their broker/advisor and brokerage firm in order to lessen their risk of becoming a victim of financial misconduct and/or incurring investment losses. If your broker’s profile has significant disclosures, KlaymanToskes recommends reviewing your account for misconduct similar to that alleged in the disclosures.
Contact KlaymanToskes today at (888) 997-9956 or lklayman@klaymantoskes.com to discuss your potential case and learn more about FINRA’s arbitration process. Consultations are free and we do not collect attorney’s fees unless we are able to obtain a financial recovery for you.
PHX Financial was recently hit with regulatory sanctions of a censure and $50,000 fine, along with being ordered to pay $356,711 in restitution to a customer, due to allegations that the firm did not establish or maintain a supervisory system to identify or prevent excessive trading (“churning”) and options trading violations.
The firm and Robert Charles Delaplain (CRD#1017107), as President and Registered Options & Securities Futures Principal (“ROSFP”), as well as branch supervisor for the New York, NY branch of PHX Financial entered into a letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent with FINRA’s Department of Enforcement. Delaplain allegedly failed to reasonably supervise two representatives who engaged in unsuitable excessive trading and unsuitable options trading. Delaplain also served as PHX Financial’s CCO from 2012 to 2015.
The AWC alleges one of the brokers involved, Halil Kozi (CRD# 1121714) was named ROSFP by the firm in May 2013 giving him responsibility for reviewing and approving new options accounts, confirming suitability risk levels for new accounts, and reviewing options related exception reports. The AWC states “Kozi was a producing broker who engaged in extensive options trading for the customer from whom he earned most of his commissions, Customer A” and that PHX Financial “did not take any steps to ensure that a different options principal was reviewing options-related alerts related to that customer.”
Kozi was responsible for reviewing options related alerts for his own customer (Customer A) and “effected more than 100 solicited trades involving speculative options trading strategies that were inconsistent with Customer A’s balanced growth investment objective and moderate risk tolerance.” This resulted in Customer A’s account generating “over $135,000 in gross commissions and over $97,000 in commissions to Kozi, while the customer incurred a net loss of nearly $72,000.”
The AWC further alleged that “the firm’s written procedures did not identify any steps a supervisor should take to identify or prevent excessive trading or take if the supervisor identified excessive trading, including what remedial steps should be taken and/or and how those steps should be documented.”
On March 17, 2020, an Offer of Settlement was issued suspending Kozi in all capacities for two years stating FINRA’s finding that Kozi had excessively traded a customer’s account and made unsuitable investment recommendations. Kozi is not currently registered and was last associated with Windsor Street Capital in 2017. The firm was expelled in 2018. The AWC identifies the second representative that Delaplain failed to supervise as “RR” and states that this individual has since been barred from the securities industry.
According to securities fraud attorney Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq., “PHX Financial’s recent FINRA disciplinary action (AWC) alleges broker misconduct and failure to maintain a reasonably designed supervisory system to detect excessive trading in customer accounts. Similar misconduct described in the customer complaints and regulatory actions brought against the PHX financial professionals listed below may indicate a lack of supervision at PHX’s Hauppauge, NY branch.”
The following list contains five brokers/financial advisors currently registered with Phoenix Financial Services, Inc. in Hauppauge, New York. PHX Financial’s Hauppauge branch is located at 150 Motor Parkway, Suite 302. According to their linked FINRA BrokerCheck profiles, these individuals have several public disclosures:
Donald Angelo Durando (CRD# 5509340)
Mark Jude Ketner (CRD# 1138522)
Steven Anthony Busto (CRD# 2522780)
Alexander Humberto Stern (CRD# 2471393)
Baris Cabalar (CRD# 4749342)
KlaymanToskes encourages investors who did business with Phoenix Financial’s Hauppauge, NY branch and/or any of the brokers listed above to review their accounts for signs of broker misconduct and/or investment losses.
Customers of PHX Financial Services that have suffered investment losses as a result of their broker/financial advisor’s recommendations may hold their brokerage firm and financial professional responsible through a FINRA arbitration claim.
Investors that suffered significant losses should contact attorney Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq., at 888-997-9956, or lklayman@klaymantoskes.com to discuss their recovery options at no cost. We do not collect attorney’s fees unless we are able to obtain a financial recovery for you.
KlaymanToskes is a leading national securities law firm which practices exclusively in the field of securities arbitration on behalf of retail and institutional investors throughout the world in large and complex securities matters. The firm has recovered over $250 million in FINRA arbitrations and over $350 million in other securities litigation matters. KlaymanToskes has office locations in California, Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico.
KlaymanToskes, P.A.
Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq.
888-997-9956
lklayman@klaymantoskes.com
www.klaymantoskes.com