A New Jersey advisor has been barred from the brokerage industry after allegedly stealing client information from his previous firm.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority barred Christopher Peter Tranchina in a disciplinary hearing panel decision issued on Tuesday, alleging that just hours after he had been fired by Hornor, Townsend & Kent in 2018, he broke into that firm’s Edison, N.J., branch office to steal client-related files.
Furthermore, Finra alleged that he neglected to update his Form U4 or to notify his subsequent employer, Chelsea Financial Services, about a criminal complaint stemming from the break-in.
Tranchina’s relationship with Hornor, Townsend & Kent, an RIA owned by Penn Mutual, deteriorated because of ongoing disagreements with Jerry Goldberg, a senior advisor in the Edison branch office. The dispute between Tranchina and Goldberg evolved to the point that Tranchina began buying website domain names similar to Goldberg’s “doing business as” name, using those sites to redirect visitors to his own website.
When HTK caught wind of Tranchina’s behavior in early April 2018, he was suspended pending an internal investigation and asked not to return to the branch office. Furthermore, the firm terminated his electronic access and changed the locks on his office door. A week later, the firm notified Tranchina that he was terminated and repeated its request that he not return to the office.
When Tranchina asked about client information, he was told that information about Hornor, Townsend & Kent clients that had been shared with Goldberg would remain with Goldberg, but that he would have any files on non-firm clients returned. The RIA emphasized that client information belonged to HTK and Penn Mutual.
Tranchina, who also complained that Goldberg was on “approximately 95%” of his business, decided to retrieve files that he did not believe Hornor, Townsend & Kent would return to him, and he drove 30 minutes from his home to the Edison branch office. Finding his key would no longer open his office door, he decided to break in by removing ceiling tiles and climbing through the ceiling, over his locked door, and into his office to open the door from within, Finra said.
Once inside, Tranchina allegedly grabbed as many files as he could. He then replaced the broken ceiling tiles as best he could and cleaned debris using a cleaning crew member’s vacuum. At this time, Tranchina was confronted by the cleaning crew supervisor, who asked his name. Tranchina responded with “Mike.”
Tranchina claims that he did not realize until the next morning that he had taken files belonging to Hornor, Townsend & Kent and Penn Mutual.
Upon realizing the theft, the firm requested that Tranchina return the files immediately. Tranchina appeared to comply in May 2018, however, Hornor, Townsend & Kent argued that he did not return all of the files that were taken. While the firm believed hundreds of client files were stolen from his office, Tranchina returned “maybe a dozen or less” according to Finra.