Fraud Charges Against Two Wall Street Traders Involved in Parking Scheme

from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against two Wall Street traders involved in a fraudulent “parking” scheme in which one temporarily placed securities in the other’s trading book to avoid penalties that would affect his year-end bonus.

The SEC’s Enforcement Division alleges that Thomas Gonnella solicited the assistance of Ryan King to evade a policy at his firm that penalizes traders financially if they hold securities for too long. Gonnella arranged for King, who worked at a different firm, to purchase several securities with the understanding that Gonnella would repurchase them at a profit for King’s firm. By parking the securities in King’s trading book in order to reset the holding period when he repurchased them, Gonnella’s intention was to avoid incurring any charges to his trading profits and ultimately his bonus for having aged inventory.

The alleged round-trip trades caused Gonnella’s firm to lose approximately $174,000. The SEC’s Enforcement Division alleges that after Gonnella’s supervisor began inquiring about the trades, Gonnella and King took steps to evade detection by interposing an interdealer broker in subsequent transactions and communicating by cell phone to avoid having conversations recorded by their firms. Gonnella and King were eventually fired by their firms for the misconduct.

King, who has cooperated with the SEC investigation, agreed to settle the charges by disgorging his profits and being barred from the securities industry. Any additional financial penalties will be determined at a later date. The Enforcement Division’s litigation against Gonnella continues in a proceeding before an administrative law judge. Said Andrew M. Calamari, director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office:

Gonnella conducted trades for the purpose of avoiding his firm’s aged-inventory policy and protecting his own bonus. Even though Gonnella misled his employer and resorted to text messages on his cell phone to avoid detection, his tricks failed and we are holding him accountable for these deceptive trades.

According to the SEC’s administrative orders, Gonnella parked a total of 10 securities with King. The scheme began on May 31, 2011, when Gonnella offered to sell King several asset-backed bonds issued by Bayview Commercial Asset Trust (BAYC). Gonnella wrote in an instant message to King:

i have 4 small bonds that i’m looking to turnover today for good ol’ month end/aging purposes … i like these bonds … and would more than likely have a higher bid for these later this wk when the calendar turns …

Gonnella’s reference to “aging purposes” was his firm’s aged-inventory policy. After King agreed, Gonnella sold him the securities and repurchased them before they had even settled in the account at King’s firm.

The SEC’s Enforcement Division alleges that Gonnella contacted King again a few months later on August 29, writing:

let’s talk tmrw. Have some aged bonds that I might offer you, if you’re game … maybe do what we did a few months ago w/ some of those bayc’s …

After Gonnella sold three BAYC bonds to King, he repurchased two but did not immediately repurchase the other security. He later did so at a loss to King’s firm, but made them whole by selling two other bonds at prices favorable to King’s firm and unfavorable to his own firm. King then used the resulting profit on the two bonds to offset the original loss incurred.

As their scheme began to unravel, the SEC’s Enforcement Division alleges that Gonnella and King discussed their trading plans via cell phone and text messaging in an effort to avoid detection. Cell phone records show that they rarely contacted one another that way in the prior four years. For example, after discussing some trades in instant messages, Gonnella told King,

Check your text [messages] in like 3 minutes.

King responded,

haha, ok … sneaky sneaky.

The order against Gonnella alleges that he willfully violated Sections 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. The order alleges that he willfully aided and abetted and caused violations of Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 17a-3.

The order against King finds that he willfully aided and abetted and caused Gonnella’s violations. The Commission took into account King’s cooperation when agreeing to the settlement. King agreed to pay disgorgement of $22,606.80 and prejudgment interest of $1,503.66. The cease-and-desist order bars King from associating with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization as well as participating in any penny stock offering, with the right to apply for re-entry after three years.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Joshua Pater with assistance from examiners Adam Bacharach, Caroline Forbes, Michael Kress, and Yvette Panetta. The case was supervised by Celeste Chase, and the litigation will be handled by Joseph Boryshansky and Daniel Michael.