FINRA

Without admitting or denying the findings, Zapata consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he made misrepresentations to one of his customers about her account balance. The findings stated that specifically, Zapata overstated the value of her account in order to conceal investment losses that had been sustained in the account and to induce her not to complain about those losses. Because the customer had declined to have her account statements mailed to her home address, in Mexico, due to security concerns, she would frequently call Zapata and ask him to provide her with her account balance. The customer had begun verbally expressing concerns to Zapata about the performance of her account, which had sustained investment losses. During one of these conversations, in order to prevent the customer from filing a complaint, Zapata intentionally lied to her, telling her that her account was worth approximately $170,000, when in fact it was actually worth only $108,225. Over time, Zapata continued to falsely overstate the value of the customer's account by amounts ranging from $15,000 to $60,000 during telephone conversations with her. Zapata was also aware that the customer, relying on the artificially inflated account values, made at least two purchase decisions, including the purchase of a car and a condominium.

Acceptance, Waiver & Consent(AWC)

Bar (Permanent)

All Capacities

12/30/2015

CUSTOMER'S ULTIMATE ALLEGATIONS INVOLVE THE REPRESENTATIVE MISREPRESENTED TO THE CUSTOMER BY STATING AN INFLATED ACCOUNT VALUE AND ACCOUNT MISMANAGEMENT. THE ALLEGED ACTIVITY OCCURED FROM APPROXIMATELY AUGUST 2010 TO SEPTEMBER 2013.

$115,000.00