The FINRA Office of Hearing Officers suspended former Wedbush Securities associate Shiva Naby of the firm's San Francisco branch and fined her $25,000 for "willfully" falsifying documents so as to create the false impression that Wedbush had conducted supervisory reviews when no such supervision had occurred. The OHO decision follows this 2014 complaint which charged Naby, Peter Julijs Augers, and Samathan Arrieta McAfee with deliberately creating and submitting fake municipal securities transaction report cards (MSRB cards), and clears Augers of wrongdoing.
Augers and McAfee were persons #2 and #3 in the chain of submitting documents to FINRA: First was Naby, then Auzers, to McAfee, and finally to FINRA.
FINRA OHO Decision #2012032080301
The OHO decision states that in an act "intending to mislead FINRA," Naby "whited out" date information on MSRB report cards, which FINRA alleged gave the false impression that Wedbush had reviewed the Report Cards several months before they were actually printed.
The findings also indicate that Naby presented the falsified documents to Capital Markets Business Conduct Officer Auzers, who in turn signed off on the cards, for McAfee to submit to FINRA. OHO overturned the 2014 charges and dismissed the complaint against Auzers, ruling that the preponderance of the evidence failed to suggest that Auzers violated FINRA rules and that, "he was not misrepresenting facts."
The OHO stated, "we do not endorse a firm culture in which a Capital Markets Business Conduct Officer requests that an individual not regularly responsible for reviewing MSRB Report Cards to sign them," but later noted, "we do not fault Auzers for this shortcoming."
If you have invested with Wedbush Securities, Inc. or with any firm whose supervisory structure or 'firm culture' has cproven harmful to your investments and interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for investigation and consultation.