Scott Paul Strochak – and the firm that employs him or her – is regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
If you are like most people, before you go out to dinner at a new restaurant, you probably take a quick look at the reviews. This makes sense; you are going to pay for an expensive dinner, and you need to be sure that you are getting a good value.
Yet, when choosing a financial advisor, many people fail to conduct this same level of due diligence. Before turning over access to your money, you need to be sure that you have found a financial advisor that you can trust. Here, our audit report, including details of allegations, complaints, and sanctions will help you decide whether or not to invest with Scott Paul Strochak.
The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient… Warren Buffet
BrokerComplaints.com is currently investigating allegations related to Scott Paul Strochak. We provide a free platform for investors to help them in their claims against negligent brokers and brokerage firms.
About Scott Strochak
Scott Paul Strochak is an Investment Adviser. Scott Paul Strochak’s Central Registration Depository (CRD) number is 1170464 and the FINRA Profile can be found at – https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/1170464.
Click here to download a Detailed Audit Report for Scott Paul Strochak.
Scott Paul Strochak has previously been reprimanded and has disclosures and/or client dispute(s) listed at FINRA BrokerCheck.
Accusations and Disclosures
You can find below, a quick snapshot of Scott Paul Strochak’s regulatory actions, arbitrations, and complaints.
DISCLOSURE 1 –
- Event Date: 9/11/2019
- Disclosure Type: Regulatory
- Disclosure Resolution: Final
- Disclosure Detail :: DocketNumberFDA:
- Initiated By: UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
- Allegations: SEC Admin Release 34-86925, September 11, 2019: The Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) against Scott P. Strochak. On August 20, 2019, a final judgment was entered by consent against Respondent, permanently enjoining him from future violations of Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act in the civil action entitled Securities and Exchange Commission v. Scott Strochak, Case No. 19-cv-81164, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
- Resolution: Order
- Sanction Details :: Sanctions: Bar (Permanent)
- Sanction Details :: Registration Capacities Affected: broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or NRSRO
- Duration: Indefinite
- Start Date: 9/11/2019 Registration Capacities Affected: Participating in any offering of a penny stock
- Duration: Indefinite
- Start Date: 9/11/2019
- Sanctions: Penny Stock Bar
DISCLOSURE 2 –
- Event Date: 8/16/2019
- Disclosure Type: Civil
- Disclosure Resolution: Final
- Disclosure Detail :: Initiated By: UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
- Allegations: The Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) alleges that it brings this action against Scott P. Strochak (Defendant) for violating the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws. From at least as early as February 2018, through in or about February 2019, Defendant participated in a fraudulent scheme that raised nearly $3.8 million from at least seventeen investors nationwide, by acting as the unregistered head sales agent for Castleberry Financial Services Group, LLC (Castleberry) and directly soliciting prospective investors to invest in Castleberry’s funds based on false representations. Castleberry, a South Florida-based company, purported to be a successful Alternative Investment Manager, falsely claiming it had hundreds of millions of dollars in capital invested in local businesses and a portfolio of hundreds of real estate properties that generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually. In truth, Castleberry never had millions of dollars invested in businesses or real estate and never derived significant revenue from investments. Castleberry purported to provide investors principal-protected ‘equity-like’ fixed income returns by investing and managing surety-bond protected funds on behalf of investors. Castleberry’s offering materials and investor solicitations claimed the principal invested into its funds was fully insured and bonded by leading insurance companies such as CNA Surety (CNA) and Chubb Group of Companies (Chubb). In truth, Castleberry investor funds were neither bonded nor insured, and neither CNA nor Chubb had a relationship with Castleberry. In his role as the principal sales agent for Castleberry investments, Defendant directly disseminated Castleberry’s misrepresentations to investors and featured them in his investor solicitations despite knowing, or being reckless in not knowing, the falsity of the above claims regarding Castleberry and its investment offerings. Through his fraudulent conduct, Defendant raised $2.1 million from at least seven investors for Castleberry and received more than $245,000, including at least $48,000 in sales commissions, from Castleberry. Through this misconduct, Defendant violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) and Sections 10(b) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Unless restrained and enjoined, Defendant is reasonably likely to engage in future violations of the federal securities laws.
- Resolution: Judgment Rendered
- Sanction Details :: Sanctions: Disgorgement
- Sanction Details :: Amount: $245,122.16 Sanctions: Monetary Penalty other than Fines Sanctions: Injunction
- Sanctions: Undertakings
DISCLOSURE 3 –
- Event Date: 4/22/2019
- Disclosure Type: Criminal
- Disclosure Resolution: Final Disposition
- Disclosure Detail :: Criminal Charges :: Charges: conspiracy to commit wire fraud
- Disposition: Pled guilty
DISCLOSURE 4 –
- Event Date: 2/16/2017
- Disclosure Type: Regulatory
- Disclosure Resolution: Final
- Disclosure Detail :: DocketNumberFDA: 14-03127
- DocketNumberAAO: 14-03127
- Initiated By: FINRA
- Allegations: Respondent Strochak failed to comply with an arbitration award or settlement agreement or to satisfactorily respond to a FINRA request to provide information concerning the status of compliance.
- Resolution: Letter
- Sanction Details :: Sanctions: Suspension
- Sanction Details :: Registration Capacities Affected: All capacities
- Duration: n/a
- Start Date: 2/16/2017
- End Date: 5/31/2017
- Regulator Statement: Pursuant to Article VI, Section 3 of FINRA By-Laws, and FINRA Rule 9554, Respondent Strochak is suspended on February 16, 2017 for failure to comply with an arbitration award or settlement agreement or to satisfactorily respond to a FINRA request to provide information concerning the status of compliance. Suspension lifted on May 31, 2017.
- Broker Comment: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, THE SUSPENSIONS LISTED ON MY U-4 WERE NOT PRACTICE OR CLIENT RELATED IN ANY WAY. THEY WERE A RESULT OF MY INABILITY TO PAY TWO ARBITRATION AWARDS RESULTING FROM A PARTNERSHIP DISPUTE WITH MY FORMER SPOUSE. DURING OUR MARRIAGE, MY WIFE AND I WERE PARTNERS AT MORGAN STANLEY. AFTER THE DIVORCE, SHE RESIGNED FROM MORGAN STANLEY AND WAS HIRED BY UBS. AFTER HER RESIGNATION, A MAJORITY OF THE ACCOUNTS SERVICED BY THE PARTNERSHIP TRANSFERRED TO UBS TO BE SERVICED BY MY FORMER SPOUSE. AS A RESULT, I INCURRED A SUBSTANTIAL DECLINE IN ACCOUNT RELATIONSHIPS AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES. LITIGATION ENSUED BETWEEN THE PARTIES THAT RESULTED IN AWARDS FOR MY FORMER SPOUSE AND MY FORMER EMPLOYER, MORGAN STANLEY, AGAINST ME. I HAD NO ABILITY TO PAY THE ARBITRATION AWARDS, WHICH WERE DISCHARGED IN BANKRUPTCY.
DISCLOSURE 5 –
- Event Date: 8/23/2016
- Disclosure Type: Regulatory
- Disclosure Resolution: Final
- Disclosure Detail :: DocketNumberFDA: 15-01256
- DocketNumberAAO: 15-01256
- Initiated By: FINRA
- Allegations: Respondent Strochak failed to comply with an arbitration award or settlement agreement or to satisfactorily respond to a FINRA request to provide information concerning the status of compliance.
- Resolution: Letter
- Sanction Details :: Sanctions: Suspension
- Sanction Details :: Registration Capacities Affected: All capacities
- Duration: n/a
- Start Date: 8/23/2016
- End Date: 5/31/2017
- Regulator Statement: Pursuant to Article VI, Section 3 of FINRA By-Laws, and FINRA Rule 9554, Respondent Strochak is suspended on August 23, 2016 for failure to comply with an arbitration award or settlement agreement or to satisfactorily respond to a FINRA request to provide information concerning the status of compliance. Suspension lifted on May 31, 2017.
- Broker Comment: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, THE SUSPENSIONS LISTED ON MY U-4 WERE NOT PRACTICE OR CLIENT RELATED IN ANY WAY. THEY WERE A RESULT OF MY INABILITY TO PAY TWO ARBITRATION AWARDS RESULTING FROM A PARTNERSHIP DISPUTE WITH MY FORMER SPOUSE. DURING OUR MARRIAGE, MY WIFE AND I WERE PARTNERS AT MORGAN STANLEY. AFTER THE DIVORCE, SHE RESIGNED FROM MORGAN STANLEY AND WAS HIRED BY UBS. AFTER HER RESIGNATION, A MAJORITY OF THE ACCOUNTS SERVICED BY THE PARTNERSHIP TRANSFERRED TO UBS TO BE SERVICED BY MY FORMER SPOUSE. AS A RESULT, I INCURRED A SUBSTANTIAL DECLINE IN ACCOUNT RELATIONSHIPS AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES. LITIGATION ENSUED BETWEEN THE PARTIES THAT RESULTED IN AWARDS FOR MY FORMER SPOUSE AND MY FORMER EMPLOYER, MORGAN STANLEY, AGAINST ME. I HAD NO ABILITY TO PAY THE ARBITRATION AWARDS, WHICH WERE DISCHARGED IN BANKRUPTCY.
DISCLOSURE 6 –
- Event Date: 7/15/2013
- Disclosure Type: Customer Dispute
- Disclosure Resolution: Settled
- Disclosure Detail :: Allegations: Client alleges, inter alia, failure to follow instructions with respect to investments guidelines and gross mismanagement from August 2011 to July 2012.
- Damage Amount Requested: $400,000.00
- Settlement Amount: $27,687.28
- Arbitration Docket Number:
According to a study prepared for the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, 80 percent of American investors report that they have been solicited to participate in a fraud scheme, while 11 percent of American investors report that they personally lost money as a result of fraud.
FINRA notes that the rate of investment fraud is most likely much higher than it is reported. This is because many victims of financial advisor scams are too ashamed to come forward. Further, the study also found that a significant number of investors do not know how to spot common red flags of investment fraud. The least you should do is share your experience with other potential victims of investment scams.
Previous Associations
Under federal securities law and securities industry regulations, registered investment firms have a legal duty to supervise their financial advisors. Section 15(b)(4)(E) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 makes a securities firm liable for the conduct of representatives.
- MORGAN STANLEY (CRD#: 149777) :: 6/1/2009 – 3/23/2015 :: BOCA RATON, FL
- MORGAN STANLEY & CO. INCORPORATED (CRD#: 8209) :: 1/30/2009 – 6/1/2009 :: BOCA RATON, FL
- MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED (CRD#: 7691) :: 1/12/2005 – 2/2/2009 :: BOCA RATON, FL
- NEUBERGER BERMAN, LLC (CRD#: 2908) :: 2/20/2001 – 1/19/2005 :: NEW YORK, NY
- SUNTRUST EQUITABLE SECURITIES (CRD#: 6271) :: 10/9/2000 – 2/5/2001 :: ATLANTA, GA
- INTEGRATED RESOURCES EQUITY CORPORATION (CRD#: 6403) :: 6/13/1989 – 11/6/1989
- W. H. NEWBOLD’S SONS & CO., INC. (CRD#: 7575) :: 8/20/1987 – 12/12/1987
The duty to supervise securities representatives is a strong legal requirement. Registered investment firms must take many different steps to ensure that they are protecting their customers from irresponsible and criminal financial advisors.
Legit or Not?
Unfortunately, stockbroker fraud is more common than many investors would like to think. And yes, stockbrokers (including Scott Paul Strochak, but not limited to) can (and do) steal money from their clients. While it’s rare that a broker will literally steal his client’s money (though that does happen), typically the “theft” of investment funds comes in the form of other fraudulent violations of securities law and FINRA rules which leads to significant investment losses.
Sometimes investment losses occur because advisors, stockbrokers, and even brokerage firms, commit fraud. Massimo Vignelli
Investors generally understand that there are risks associated with buying and selling securities. The market can go up, and the market can go down. No matter how skilled of an investor you are, there are always risks. With that being said, sometimes investment losses cannot be blamed on simple back luck.
There are 10 major types of complaints we receive against Investment Brokers –
- Outright Theft (Conversion of Funds)
- Unauthorized Trading
- Misrepresentation or Omission of Material Facts
- Excessive Trading (Churning)
- Lack of Diversification
- Unsuitable Investment Recommendations
- Failure to Disclose a Personal Conflict of Interest
- Front Running of Transactions
- Breakpoint Sale Violations
- Negligent Portfolio Management
Do your due diligence before investing. Public records are available for everybody to review and decide on the safest bet.
How to Protect Yourself
We, as citizens, place a great deal of trust in the financial advisors who are tasked with helping us achieve and maintain financial security. Most of the time financial advisors and stockbrokers are honest folks who work diligently in their client’s best interests. However, on occasion financial advisors and the brokerage firms who employ them mess up and cause serious financial harm to their clients. Sometimes these losses are caused by simple negligence. Other times fraud or other serious misconduct is to blame.
Here are 5 signs that your broker needs to be reported –
- Breach of Fiduciary Duty: Under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, certain investment professionals, known as registered investment advisors (RIAs), owe fiduciary obligations to their customers. Your investment broker must always look out for your best interests. If you lost money because of your broker’s breach of fiduciary duty, you may be entitled to compensation for the full value of your damages.
- Unsuitable Investments: Many financial advisors are not fiduciaries. Instead, they are held to the suitability standard. These stockbrokers and financial advisors can only sell and recommend financial products that are appropriate for a customer’s unique investment profile. If you lost money in unsuitable investments, you should consider reporting them.
- Material Misrepresentations or Omissions: Brokers have a duty to make fair and honest representations to their clients. If they fail to do so, and an investor loses money due to a misrepresentation or a material omission, the broker may be liable for the investor’s losses.
- Lack of Diversification: Brokers must also act with the appropriate level of professional skill. Pushing a customer into over-concentrated investments is highly risky. Brokers can be held liable for losses sustained because of an investor’s inappropriate lack of diversification.
- Excessive Trading (Churning): Stockbrokers and financial advisors must have a well-grounded, reasonable basis to execute all trades. Unfortunately, there are cases in which brokers will frequently trade on a customer’s account, simply to increase their own fees. This unlawful practice is known as churning.
- Unauthorized Trading: Brokers must have the proper legal authority to make transactions on behalf of a client. If you lost money because your broker made trades that you never approved of, you may have been the victim of unauthorized trading. You should consult with an experienced attorney.
Report Scott Strochak
In order to prevail in an investment fraud lawsuit or FINRA arbitration cases, you must be able to assert a viable ‘cause of action’.
Scott Paul Strochak – and the firm that employs this broker – is regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA provides an online form to allow investors to file a formal complaint against their financial advisor, stockbroker, or brokerage firm.
Click here to go to FINRA’s Online Complaint Form →
This form will ask you for specific information related to your complaint. Be prepared by gathering the following:
- Name and symbol for the investment product in question.
- The CRD number (1170464) for the broker – Scott Paul Strochak
- Your complete contact information.
Remember, it is advised to report your broker to FINRA, only after you have exhausted all of your other remedies and carefully prepared a compelling complaint. Once you file a complaint against your broker at FINRA, your case will be bound by FINRA’s rules and the arbitration panel’s eventual decision. The time clock will start, and your complaint will be served on your broker or broker-dealer.
The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the source BrokerComplaints.com and do not necessarily reflect the official position of ‘The Skeptic Files,’ which shall not be held liable for any inaccuracies presented. The information provided within this article is for general informational purposes only. While we try to keep the information up-to-date and correct, there are no representations or warranties, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability of the information in this article for any purpose.
This article is syndicated automatically through a third-party agency from BrokerComplaints.com.
To view the original article at BrokerComplaints.com, you can visit https://brokercomplaints.com/report/scott-paul-strochak/.
