Michael Blumer, John Kuprianchik, David Page, Steven Thompson, Joseph Todaro
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 25863 / September 28, 2023
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Blumer, John Kuprianchik, David Page, Steven Thompson, and Joseph Todaro, No. YY-civ-1:23-cv-07250 (E.D.N.Y. filed September 28, 2023)
SEC Charges Five Registered Representatives with Violations of Regulation Best Interest and Fraud for Excessive Trading in Customer Accounts
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges against Michael Blumer, John Kuprianchik, David Page, Steven Thompson, and Joseph Todaro, who were registered representatives of Salomon Whitney LLC, a broker-dealer doing business under the name SW Financial, for recommending a short-term, high-volume investment strategy to at least sixteen retail customers without a reasonable basis.
According to the complaint, from at least August 2018 through June 2022, Blumer, Kuprianchik, Page, Thompson and Todaro recommended and executed more than 2,000 trades in these customers’ accounts without regard for the high transaction costs incurred by these customers. The SEC alleges that, as a result of this high volume of recommended transactions and the attendant commissions and fees, it would have been virtually impossible for these customers to achieve a positive return in their accounts. As described in the complaint, while these customers were left with aggregate losses in their accounts exceeding $1 million, Blumer, Kuprianchik, Page, Thompson, Todaro and SW Financial collectively received more than $660,000 in commissions and fees as a result of the excessive trading they recommended.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charges Blumer, Kuprianchik, Page, Thompson and Todaro with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, as well as Regulation Best Interest. The complaint seeks from all defendants permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.
The SEC’s investigation was led by Craig Welter and supervised by Alison Conn and Tejal D. Shah, all of the New York Regional Office. The SEC’s litigation will be led by Christopher Dunnigan of the New York Regional Office. The examination that led to Enforcement’s investigation was conducted by Dee-Ann DiSalvo, John Celio, David Jaffe, and Ronald Krietzman of the Division of Examinations.