FINRA suspended former Arque Capital, Ltd (Irvine, CA) broker Michael "Mike" Alexander Nahass and fined him $15,000 for engaging in undisclosed outside business activities from 2009 through 2015 while associated with three FINRA-member firms in Southern California. The suspension also includes admonishment for failing to disclose an outside securities account and for submitting false answers on annual compliance questionnaires.
According to the report, Nahass began engaging in an outside business activity by serving as director and officer of a publicly traded company without notifying his employing firms during the relevant period from 2009-15. During this time, Nahass was registered with FINRA firms Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments (Beverly Hills, CA) until June 2010, Newbridge Securities Corporation (Beverly Hills, CA) in the summer of 2010, and Arque Capital from 2010 through March 2015.
Nahass' profile on the Terra Tech Corp. (TRTC) Board of Directors website indicates he is Terra Tech's Director, Secretary & Treasurer, having previously served as Chief Portfolio Manager at NMS Platinum Funds, LLC and Managing Director/COO of NMS Capital Asset Management, Inc.
FINRA's investigation states that on multiple occasions, Nahass failed to provide prompt written notification to the firms he was associated with at the time that he was engaged in an outside business activity with TRTC; the findings state that Nahass received compensation from Terra Tech, a hydroponic equipment and indoor agriculture company, totaling about $1.275 million.
The report indicates Nahass also failed to disclose to Arque that while working at that firm, he opened an outside brokerage account with a different FINRA member firm in which he held and sold Terra Tech company shares.
The AWC concludes with the finding that Nahass submitted inaccurate annual compliance questionnaires in which he made false representations that he did not maintain any outside brokerage accounts and that he was not involved with an outside business activity, even though he purportedly knew he had served as Terra Tech director.
If you have invested with Michael Alexander Nahass or with any other broker or financial adviser whose failure to adequately disclose outside business activities or similar compensation/profit-generating activities that could serve as a conflict of interest when it comes to your own investments, and such disclosure failures or misrepresentations have proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.