New York Securities Lawyer Blog
On April 3, 2024, Lax & Neville LLP won a FINRA arbitration award on behalf of a 75-year-old retiree (“Claimant”) against E1 Asset Management, Inc., Shaun Joseph Grimaldi, and Ron Yehuda Itin (“Respondents”). Respondents, who all have checkered regulatory histories, capitalized on Claimant’s trust and friendship for a decade to conceal their fraud and exercise complete control over his accounts, by investing in options and risky triple leveraged ETFs, on margin, and relentlessly churning his accounts for the sole purpose of generating $1,604,814 in commissions, interest and fees. They accomplished this by making more than $341 million in trades, on margin, for an annual turnover rate of 13.2 and an average cost to equity ratio of 12.4%. Respondents at all times acted with a willful intent to defraud Claimant, breached their fiduciary duties to him, and violated FINRA Rule 2111 (Suitability), SEC Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), and FINRA Rule 3010 (Supervision).
After considering the pleadings, testimony and evidence presented at the hearing, the FINRA Arbitration Panel rejected Respondents’ defenses and unanimously awarded Claimant $2.6 million, which includes 100% of his fraudulent churning damages totaling $1,604,814, plus $577,610.25 in accrued interest, $420,000 in attorneys’ fees, $5,285.83 in discovery sanctions, and post-award interest. To view this Award, click here.
To discuss this FINRA arbitration award, please contact Barry Lax or Sandra Lahens at (212) 696-1999.