UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Before the
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Release No. 47045 / December 19, 2002
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING
File No. 3-10981
In the Matter of
JOHN J. MESSINA
Respondent.
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ORDER INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS
PURSUANT TO SECTION 15(b)(6)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE
ACT OF 1934, MAKING FINDINGS
AND IMPOSING REMEDIAL SANCTIONS
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I.
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") deems it appropriate and in the public interest that a public administrative proceeding be, and hereby is, instituted pursuant to Section 15(b)(6) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") against John J. Messina ("Respondent").
II.
Respondent has submitted an Offer of Settlement ("Offer") that the Commission has determined to accept. On the basis of the foregoing, Respondent hereby:
- Admits the jurisdiction of the Commission over him and over the matters set forth in the Order Instituting Proceedings Pursuant to Section 15(b)(6) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings and Imposing Remedial Sanctions;
- Solely for the purpose of these proceedings and any other proceedings brought by or on behalf of the Commission or to which the Commission is a party, and without admitting or denying the Commission's findings contained in the Order, except as to the fact of his criminal conviction set forth in paragraph III.B.1 below, which is admitted, consents to the entry of an Order by the Commission containing the following findings and remedial sanctions set forth below:
III.
On the basis of this Order and Respondent's Offer, the Commission finds that:
A. Respondent
John J. Messina, Jr., 34, was a registered representative at A.S. Goldmen & Co., Inc. ("Goldmen"), a broker dealer registered with the Commission, from January 1992 to April 1997. From April 1997 to September 2000 Messina was a registered representative at William Scott & Co., LLC, a broker-dealer registered with the Commission. Messina is a resident of New Jersey.
B. State Criminal Conviction
- On January 18, 2002, Messina was criminally convicted of the crime of attempted enterprise corruption upon the entry of his plea of guilty by the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Messina was sentenced to probation and to pay forfeiture in the amount of $100,000.
- According to the plea allocution upon which his conviction was based, Messina had knowledge of the existence of a criminal enterprise and the nature of its activities, and, being employed by and associated with such enterprise, intentionally attempted to conduct and participate in the affairs of an enterprise by participating in a pattern of criminal activity. Specifically, Messina, acting as a registered representative at Goldmen, and others, engaged in fraud by engaging in conduct constituting at lease three of the criminal acts included in the pattern of criminal activity as follows: (1) making misrepresentations and false statements regarding the nature and value of certain securities that he sold to investors and failing to disclose the extent to which the securities distributed in an initial public offering had been placed into nominee and controlled accounts; (2) misrepresenting and failing to disclose the extent to which employees of Goldmen were scheming to control, and were controlling, the market for those securities; (3) misrepresenting and failing to disclose the extent to which the prices of certain securities were dependant on the continuation of that scheme; (4) misrepresenting and failing to disclose the extent to which Goldmen brokers were being compensated for selling those securities; (5) misrepresenting and failing to disclose the extent to which customers had been, were being, and would be discouraged and restrained from selling those securities.
IV.
Based on the foregoing, the Commission deems it appropriate and in the public interest to accept Respondent's Offer and to impose the sanctions that are set forth in the Offer.
ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 15(b)(6) of the Exchange Act, Respondent be, and hereby is, barred from association with any broker or dealer.
By the Commission.
Jonathan G. Katz
Secretary
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/34-47045.htm
