The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards today announced sanctions against 40 current or former certified financial planner professionals. The penalties take effect immediately or on the date noted in each case, the organization said.
Penalties can range from public censures, suspensions and temporary bars to permanent bars and revocations of the right to use the CFP marks.
The CFP Board late last year said it had conducted background checks on all CFP professionals to detect a host of potential misconduct involving professional conduct, criminal matters, bankruptcies, civil judgments and tax liens. Those background checks led to the investigation of 1,266 CFP designees, in what the CFP Board deemed as “historical investigations.” The organization said that more than half of the 40 recently sanctioned financial planners resulted from its heightened investigation.
All told, five financial planners were publicly censured, eight were suspended, four were permanently barred and the remaining 23 had their right to use the CFP marks revoked.
The suspension list includes Nathan M. Oeming in Eugene, Ore., who received a five-year suspension after he pled guilty last year to online sexual corruption of a child, according to a CFP Board press release.
The list of those whose use of the CFP designation has been revoked include Donald R. Carter in San Diego, who was cited for failure to address allegations that he didn’t pay his tax liability to the Internal Revenue Service for three separate years, causing the IRS to file a tax lien against him.
Laure A. Scaturo of Millstone Township, N.J. had her right to use the CFP designation revoked after she failed to provide requested information to the CFP Board regarding four outstanding federal tax liens filed against her for the tax years 2011 to 2015.
Benjamin Lane Carrick in Dallas was slapped with revocation after he failed to provide the CFP Board with information pertaining to allegations that he didn’t pay federal taxes for five separate years.
Meanwhile, Timothy A. Hanna of Bridgeville, Pa., was stripped of his right to use the CFP marks due to his conviction for aggravated assault of the wife of the coach of his son’s hockey team.
Trajko Papuckoski of Carrollton, Texas, was disciplined with revocation after he failed to file an answer to a CFP Board complaint alleging that, according to Denton County Criminal Court #1, Papuckoski was charged with assault with family violence.
“Our enforcement process is defined and comprehensive, yet fair to those whose conduct is being evaluated and credible to the public,” Thomas Sporkin, the CFP Board’s managing director of enforcement, said in a statement. “Our enforcement program is a critical consumer benefit that sets CFP certification apart from other credentials and designations in the financial services industry.”
