John Thomas Financial, a broker/dealer owned and run by Tommy Belesis (Anastasios P Belesis) , who appeared in Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”, is the subject of an investigation involving the FBI, FINRA & the SEC according to a story that appeared in the New York Post on February 7, 2013.
According to the story, the inquiry is focused on whether John Thomas Financial had received information in advance of Bristol-Myers Squibb deal to buy drugmaker Inhibitex.
Mr. Belesis FINRA records, available here, indicate he has a number of issues with customers and a former employer. One customer was awarded about $259,000 on a claim of churning, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. He was discharged from S.W. Bach & Company because of “an inaccurate representation of identity to customer”.
The day after this story broke, the Investment News announced that John Thomas Financial has withdrawn from a suit it filed against five ex-brokers alleging they used stolen proprietary information to lure customers away. According to that article, affidavits filed in response to the suit say that John Thomas, through Belesis, promoted a pump and dump stock scheme.
One example cited is Liberty Silver Corp., a company promoted by John Thomas. Liberty Silver traded at $1.55 in October before the SEC suspended trading. It is currently trading for about 39 cents.
In January 2009, John Thomas Financial was lead underwriter on a private placement offering for America West Resources (AWSR) that raised over $5 million. That stock was trading at over $2.75 in early January 2009. It currently trades a one penny.
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