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FINRA Bars Suresh Kumar After Alleged Fraud

Suresh Kumar (CRD #: 5683972) has been barred by FINRA, according to his BrokerCheck record, accessed on June 20, 2022. Read on if you have questions about Suresh Kumar’s conduct as a broker.

Alleged Fraud and Bar by FINRA

On April 24, 2022, FINRA filed a regulatory action against Suresh Kumar, alleging that he ran a fraudulent scheme while employed by T3 Trading Group and later failed to provide testimony as part of a FINRA investigation.

The Order Accepting Offer of Settlement alleges that, while employed by T3 Trading, Suresh Kumar operated a business in which he promised proprietary traders, both verbally and in writing, to train them to pass the Series 57 examination, teach them to trade securities as part of his supposed “team” at T3 Trading, and double the value of their initial trading deposit with the firm.

This “contingency fund deposit” would allegedly be held by T3 Trading while Suresh Kumar trained participants for the exam. Participants who wished to end the deal before passing the exam would allegedly be entitled to a partial refund of their deposit within three months.

One client, Participant 1, allegedly paid Suresh Kumar a $50,000 contingency fund deposit in June 2018 as part of their agreement. He allegedly requested to terminate their agreement in October 2019, after failing the Series 57 exam twice, and also requested a refund. Per their alleged agreement, Suresh Kumar was obligated to return $48,000 to Participant 1 no later than January 31, 2020. The order alleges he failed to do so.

In and around January 2020, Suresh Kumar made material misrepresentations as to why he could not repay Participant 1, allegedly claiming that T3 Trading held $100 million of his money. Instead, he allegedly could not repay Participant 1 because he had already spent the $48,000 on personal expenses and repaying a loan and had no other liquid assets with which to repay him.

The AWC alleges the following: 

  • Suresh Kumar failed to disclose this outside business activity to T3 Trading.
  • From October 22, 2019, through April 22, 2020, Suresh Kumar failed to disclose to his firm 100 private securities transactions executed in outside brokerage accounts held by Participant 1 and Participant 2.
  • On January 15, 2020, Suresh Kumar falsely attested to T3 Trading that he did not engage in an outside business activity or private securities transactions or use unapproved methods of electronic communications.
  • On April 7, 2021, Suresh Kumar refused to answer questions during on-the-record testimony. These questions concerned certain “deals” he had entered into that Suresh Kumar claimed were impacting his ability to repay participants.
  • Further, Suresh Kumar failed to provide electronic communications on request, made false statements regarding those communications, and deleted requested electronic communications.

The order concludes that these allegations constitute violations of FINRA Rules 2010, 3270, 3280, and 8210.

FINRA Rules 3270 and 3280

FINRA Rule 3270 requires brokers to disclose to their firm any business activities they participate in outside of their role at the firm, including what responsibilities they have and what compensation they will receive.

Similarly, FINRA Rule 3280 specifically requires brokers to disclose any private securities transactions brokers participate in and their role in those transactions.

FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010

FINRA Rule 8210 requires FINRA members to comply with requests for information, documents, and testimony as part of FINRA investigations.

Many violations of other FINRA Rules automatically violate FINRA Rule 2010, which requires brokers to uphold high standards of commercial honor.

Sanctions

Suresh Kumar consented to a permanent bar from associating with FINRA members in all capacities, starting on May 23, 2022.

You can read the full Order Accepting Offer of Settlement here.

Background Information

Suresh Kumar has passed the following exams:

  • SIE – Securities Industry Essentials Examination
  • Series 7 – General Securities Representative Examination

He previously worked for T3 Trading Group (CRD#:154431) and Echotrade (CRD#:42239).

Kurta Law Can Help

If you worked with Suresh Kumar and you have concerns about your investments, please contact us today at 877-600-0098 or info@kurtalawfirm.com for a free consultation.

For over 20 years, Kurta Law has advocated on behalf of investors who want to recover their investment losses from brokers and brokerage firms. Kurta Law is a nationally recognized law firm and exclusively represents investors against brokers and brokerage firms on a contingency basis. This means that the firm only earns a fee if our securities attorneys recover money on your behalf.