A Califoria financial planner who was convicted of killing her disabled sister has had her right to use the Certified Financial Planner designation suspended pending an investigation.
Amy Sam Ho, 62, of Arcadia and Montebello, Calif., was sentenced by a Los Angeles County Superior Court in December to 15 years in prison for starving and abusing her disabled sister, Cora Sam, 60, according to the Whittier (Calif.) Daily News.
Ho was her sister’s full-time caregiver when she brought her to a local hospital, where she was declared dead. The sister had sores on her body and weighed 66 pounds, according to the news report.
An autopsy found that the sister died from sepsis, with additional contributing factors of pneumonia, infected bed sores, cerebral malformation and malnutrition, coroner’s records show. The death was ruled a homicide, the news reports said. Ho was convicted in July of second-degree murder and abuse of a dependent adult.
Ho’s right to use the CFP designation was automatically suspended and the CFP investigation is ongoing. She is a former broker who has not been registered with the SEC since 2012. The murder occurred in 2011.
Ho’s suspension was one of more than two dozen disciplinary actions announced Friday by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, which issued revocations, suspensions and letters of admonition. Revocations are permanent and are the most serious action the board can dispense.
The revocations were issued because each of the CFPs failed to answer CFP Board charges in a timely manner. The right to use the designation was revoked for the following planners:
Stuart Horowitz of Coral Springs, Fla., because of his involvement in making unsuitable recommendations to clients. He previously had agreed to be barred for one year from the financial industry and to pay a $10,000 fine imposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (Finra).
Horowitz recommended that clients convert real estate-backed limited partnership units to preferred notes at a time when he had no reasonable basis to believe the preferred notes were suitable for the clients, CFP Board said.
Tiffany Peacock Asakawa, Huntington Beach, Calif., because of several charges including engaging in excessive trading and executing at least 200 discretionary trades in two customer accounts without prior written authorization from the customers or written approval from her firm.
Eric W. Kuchel, Brea, Calif., for failure to appear for testimony during Finra’s investigation surrounding various mutual fund transactions at Kuchel’s broker-dealer. Finra barred him from association with any Finra member in any capacity.
Andrew G. Rosenberg, Weston, Fla., after Finra found he failed to disclose to securities investors or his firm that he was providing legal services for compensation to the issuer of the securities.
Sharon J. Fall, Chester, Md., for borrowing money from clients.
Laurence D. Black, Park City, Utah, for failing to reveal to clients that he associated with an individual who was barred from the industry by the SEC for felony securities fraud convictions and for failing to keep proper records, among other charges.
Cory D. Williams, Monkton, Md., for being fined by the SEC, which charged him with handling securities sales that were not approved by his firm and for failing to disclose tax liens filed against him.
The right to use the CFP designation was suspended for varying lengths of time for the following:
Brian P. Carr, Chatham, N.J., for five years because he was the subject of a New Jersey Administrative Consent Order, which concluded that he defrauded investors, made materially false and misleading statements and or omissions and engaged in a course of business that led to fraud and or deceit upon investors.
W. Jon Bettis, Carlsbad, Calif., for three and a half years, or until he pays a court-ordered judgment.
Hampton Scurlock III, Lexington, Ken., for two years for violating his fiduciary duty to clients and for misrepresenting commission payments.
Daniel M. Myers, Woodbury, Minn., for two years for being convicted of driving while intoxicated four times.
Theodore P. Williams, East Earl, Pa., for a year and one day for failing to act in a client’s interests.
William M. Swayne II, Seattle, Wash., one year for selling clients unsuitable investments.
Adam J. Kuettel, Bentonvile, Ark., for 10 months because he assisted investors with the purchase of shares of stock and warrants in a public company through a private investment in public equity. He had previously been suspended and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine by Finra.
Sheldon Jay Harber, St. Louis, Mo., for five months for participating in private securities transactions without approval from his firm.
Douglas S. Miller, Toledo, Ohio, an interim suspension for participating in the sale of investments in limited liability companies to clients without providing written notice to his firm.
Bruce M. Weinstein, Boca Raton, Fla., an interim suspension for submitting false expense reports to his firm and accepting reimbursements for ineligible expenses.
Public letters of admonition were issued to Charles J. McCarn, Birmingham, Ala.; Edward A. Rusowicz, Irvine, Calif.; Christopher S. Scott, Colorado Springs; Brian Sullivan, Alpharetta, Ga., and Scott A. Larsen, Kenosha, Wis.