SEC: N.Y. investment firm misled S. Fla. seniors – Phoenix Business Journal:

"They used free lunches as the low-tecbh bait for their high-scale scheme," said Robert director of the SEC's Division of The SEC alleges elderlyh and retired investors were lured into purchasinv highly unsuitable variable annuities with lucrative sales commissions while ignoring the financial goalsof victims. The SEC allegesw that Eric J. Brown of Highland Matthew J. Collins of Boynton Beach, Kevijn J. Walsh of Viera, and Mark W. Wellx of Boca Raton, were among those offering and sellingbthe annuities. It’s alleged that the firm and its representatives earned millions of dollars insales commissions.
PCS is a registered broker-dealef and wholly-owned subsidiary of Gilman Ciocia, an incomre tax preparation business headquarteredd in Poughkeepsie that offerss financial services inNew York, New Pennsylvania and Florida. Robert Heim, a NewYor attorney who representsPrime Capital, Gilman and several of the individuals, including Collins and said the conduct at issue in the complain t is "very old" and occurred in the late 1990s and earl 2000. He said the company reached a settlement with the when it was calledthe (NASD). As part of that the company implementedsome wide-ranging updates to its supervisoru and compliance systems in 2005, Heim said.
He addec that he didn't know why the SEC was going over thesame "All of these issues were addressed yearsd ago and we feel the company'sx response has been appropriate," he said. Whil Brown and Walsh have since left, Collins and Wellxs are still with the he said. An administrative law judge will determine whether the allegations against the respondents aretrue and, if so, whether they should be orderedc to cease and desist from future violations.

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