November 19, 2020
FINRA AWC
General securities representative (GSR) Neemit Shah recently consented to a suspension and fines imposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to resolve allegations of violating securities industry regulations by engaging in undisclosed and unapproved private securities transactions (PSTs).
Shah has been associated with five FINRA member firms as a GSR since obtaining his license in 2004 with Pruco Securities, LLC in Newark, New Jersey. Shah was then associated with First Clearing, LLC in St. Louis, Missouri from March 2007 to July 2008, NYLife Securities LLC in Glen Allen, Virginia from January 2009 to November 2016, and MML Investors Services also in Glen Allen from December 2016 to November 2018. Shah was most recently associated with Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC in Richmond from September 2019 to May 2020.
From March through April 2016, while associated with NYLife Securities, Shah allegedly solicited investors to purchase Future Income Payments, LLC (FIP) securities. The company represented itself as a structured cash flow investment in which they purchased pensions at a discount and sold portions of those pensions as a “pension stream” to investors, promising a 7% or 8% return on investment. Shah allegedly sold $408,000 of in FIP purchase agreements to two NYLife Securities customers and received $8,160 in commissions.
In April 2018, FIP ceased business even though the company owed $300 million in unpaid investor payments. FIP’s owner, Scott A. Kohn, was charged in federal court with conspiracy to engage in mail and wire fraud.
Without admitting or denying the allegations made against him, Neemit Shah consented to a six-month suspension from associating with any FINRA member in any capacity and a $5,000 fine. His FINRA BrokerCheck report does not show any other disclosures.
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