Friday, July 12, 2013

REMEMBER: "8 Pressure Stock Pitches Stockbrokers at John Thomas Financial Might Use on You"...

that we published here at EPJ?

This week, John Thomas Financial ended its registration as a securities broker-dealer.

NyPo has more details:
R.I.P., Jtf.

John Thomas Financial, the beleaguered Wall Street brokerage firm founded by celebrity broker Tommy Belesis, has fallen so far it’s now six feet under, The Post has learned.

The formerly high-flying brokerage firm, which once boasted attendants in its office bathroom and ties to famed film director Oliver Stone, filed termination requests with federal and state regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) and the Nasdaq Stock Market, records show.

In all, JTF filed a whopping 45 termination requests this week, according to Finra records.

The move caps the brokerage firm’s fast and furious demise following a litany of government probes, which were first reported by The Post in February.

In March, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Belesis and George Jarkesy, a Houston radio host, accusing them of deceiving investors of a hedge fund allegedly controlled by Belesis.

In April, Finra filed a complaint accusing Belesis of selling the brokerage firm’s shares ahead of clients and intimidating and harassing brokers.

Belesis, 38, has denied the allegations, as has Jarkesy.

Still, the allegations have taken their toll on the firm.

In June, the firm’s prized 38,705 square-foot office space on the 23rd floor of 14 Wall Street was put on the market.

Not long after, JTF’s clearing firm, Sterne Agee, sent a notice to JTF’s customers warning that the brokerage didn’t have enough capital to continue operating and was required to “suspend all business operations” until it could bring itself back into compliance.

Prior to JTF’s coming into the government’s crosshairs, Belesis was rubbing elbows with famous and powerful people, and regularly winning appearances on cable television.

In 2011, he was honored with the Manhattan GOP “Businessman of the Year Award” in a ceremony that included presidential hopeful Rick Perry. Two years earlier he was given a similar award by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

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