If You Sustained Investment Losses While Working With Suspended Spartan Capital Broker Jesse Krapf, Contact Us Today
New York Financial Advisor Is Suspended by FINRA for Alleged Churning, Unsuitable Trading, and More
Our Broker Churning Attorney teams are investigating claims of losses involving customers of Spartan Capital registered representative Jesse D. Krapf. The New York financial advisor was suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for five months for allegedly unsuitable and excessive trading and violating Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) while working with an older customer.
According to the self-regulatory organization (SRO), Krapf allegedly unsuitably recommended a number of trades that were excessive and not in that individual’s best interests. Because this person depended on Krapf’s investing advice and regularly went with his recommendations, the Spartan Capital financial advisor basically had “de facto control” of the account.
This included when Krapf purportedly recommended in-and-out trading even when the price of the securities involved materially stayed the same. FINRA also found that Krapf also recommended 58 transactions that resulted in “an annualized turnover rate of 23 and an annualized cost-to-equity ratio of 104%” in the customer’s account.
The allegedly unsuitable and excessive trading, also known as churning, earned Krapf almost $95K in commissions. Meanwhile, the customer sustained tens of thousands of dollars in realized losses and over $96K in trading costs.
According to FINRA’s order regarding Krapf’s suspension, a turnover rate of 6 or more, or a cost-to-equity ratio greater than 20%, usually is a sign of excessive transactions. Excessive trading is a violation of a customer’s best interests.
Krapf has been in the industry for 15 years, during which time he has been registered with 10 brokerage firms. Prior to Spartan Capital, he was a Benchmark Investments broker and a Newbridge Securities financial advisor.
Are You The Victim of Broker Churning?
Excessive trading in a customer’s account can lead to more commissions for the broker. This is also known as churning. Broker-dealers are supposed to monitor activities in customers’ accounts to ensure that churning doesn’t happen or that other kinds of financial advisor misconduct or negligence don’t lead to investor losses.
For over 30 years, our skilled churning attorneys have helped investors pursue the damages they are owed by fraudulent or negligent financial advisors. Going after a broker-dealer and/or their registered representative is not something you want to do without a savvy securities law firm representing you.
Your first step is to contact us today to schedule your free, initial case assessment. If we determine that unsuitability or excessive trading took place, you could have grounds for pursuing damages.
If we decide to work together, our broker fraud attorneys will thoroughly investigate your losses, prepare your investment loss recovery claim, and represent you against your broker-dealer, including in any FINRA arbitration proceedings.
Call our of Broker Churning Attorney teams at (800) 259-9010.