Sylvester King Jr., PKG and Five Others in FINRA Disciplinary Actions

Miramar, Florida resident, Sylvester King Jr., along with five others, were hit with fines by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA fined King $35,000 and banned him for 18 months from the securities industry. Allegedly, King stole hundreds of thousands of dollarsin customer loans. Some of this money went to professional athletes in the NBA and NFL. He founded PKG, a services firm that provided services to professional athletes. Almost $400,000 was concealed and stolen. King was registered with Banc of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, before starting PKG. He has one customer dispute against him, and is currently not licensed within the industry.

Another South Florida resident hit with a FINRA complaint was Giovanni Acevedo. He allegedly stole more than $160,000 in customer funds, which he used for personal gain. The theft occurred between 2009 and 2014. Michael Bell of Delray Beach, Florida was banned from the securities industry for three months for illegal use of a personal email address to get trades. Between April and June 2014, Bell allegedly sent 20 emails from his personal address. He worked for Westpark Capital at the time. Robert Marcus Lane Jr., of North Palm Beach, Florida was permanently banned from the securities industry by FINRA and made to pay $218,582 in restitution to customers for allegedly marking up prices in corporate bond transactions. His brother, Jeffrey Lane, was also fined $25,000 and suspended for two years for failing to supervise Robert Lane Jr. and both men did not cooperate with FINRA after they requested information from them. Patrick McGrath III was fined $10,000 and suspended for four months from the industry for allegedly borrowing $210,000 from a customer. Richard Winsor Ohrn of Boca Raton, Florida was also permanently banned from the industry after reportedly stealing $15,250 from two elderly customer’s accounts. He also forged signatures of the firm customers and changed their addresses so the forms related to the documents would be sent to his firm.

Global Strategic Investments, located in Miami, entered into an agreement with FINRA to settle charges that the company opened accounts for two foreign banks to liquidate Venezuelan bonds, without conducting proper due diligence. The firm sold over $650 million in the bonds, starting in November 2010. They did not ask for information on the bonds for a few months. They were fined $200,000. If you invested money with any of the above investment advisors, or with Global Strategic Investments, please call us at 312-332-4200 to speak with an attorney. We represent individuals in the arbitration process to help them recover their financial losses. The call is free with no obligation.