Former Merrill Lynch broker James Iannazzo, who was fired in 2022 after his tirade at a smoothies shop in Connecticut went viral, this week was fined $50,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. and suspended from the securities industry for two years.
Finra in 2023 alleged that he broke industry rules and repeatedly structured cash deposits and withdrawals in bank and brokerage accounts for the purpose of causing the financial institutions to fail to file a Currency Transaction Report.
Finra claimed that, from 2014 to 2021, while working at Merrill Lynch, Iannazzo “structured” 368 separate cash transactions to avoid the currency reporting requirements set forth in federal regulations, according to Finra.
Finra sanctioned Iannazzo on Tuesday. It was not a unanimous decision by the hearing panel, as one panelist dissented from majority’s findings that that Iannazzo engaged in unlawful structuring.
If the decision is appealed, the sanctions do not take effect right away.
“We’re pleased with the dissent that understood the proper limitation of the role or lack thereof, of Finra,” said David Gehn, Iannazzo’s attorney.
Iannazzo intended to use the cash to be spent on home improvements.
“I listened carefully to Iannazzo’s testimony,” wrote the dissenting panelist. “I credit most of his explanations for his admittedly multiple and large cash transactions. I note that other expert regulators and law enforcement authorities reviewed Iannazzo’s conduct and the facts surrounding his activities and declined to take meaningful action.”
The advisor was not penalized for the smoothie throwing incident. Iannazzo first gained notoriety in the financial advice industry when Merrill Lynch fired him in January 2022 after he was involved in a disorderly incident at a Connecticut smoothie shop.
He had been working at Merrill Lynch in Stamford since 1996 and regularly made Barron’s ranking of top advisers for Connecticut.
Iannazzo has been registered since March 2022 with Aegis Capital Corp. in Westport, Connecticut.
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