The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday that it charged Wedbush Securities Inc. for failing to supervise one of its registered reps, Timary Delorme, and ignoring numerous red flags indicating that Delorme was involved in a long-running pump-and-dump scheme targeting retail investors.
Delorme also agreed to settle fraud charges stemming from the same scheme, which involved trading in microcap stocks, the agency said.
Without admitting or denying the findings, Delorme agreed to entry of the order, which requires her to pay a $50,000 penalty, imposes industry and penny stock bars, and orders her to cease and desist from future violations.
The order says that Delorme has been employed at Wedbush for more than 40 years.
The SEC said that the Tuesday action against Wedbush is the third action the agency has taken against the broker-dealer since 2014.