Eric Korhut: FINRA Suspends Johnstown, Pennsylvania Financial Advisor

A disciplinary action taken by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority against former Johnstown, Pennsylvania broker and investment advisor Eric Korhut (CRD# 3199787) suspended him over allegations he participated in unauthorized trading in customer accounts. A former representative of Ameriprise Financial Services and Vanderbilt Securities, Korhut was suspended for one month and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000.

According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (No. 2016051348101) dated July 2018, Eric Korhut was registered with Ameriprise Financial Services from 1999 until August 2016, when, the firm reported, he had been permitted to resign “while under suspension for compliance violations” concerning unauthorized trades, discretion use, the firm’s code of conduct, and supervision. FINRA’s findings state that he specifically executed unauthorized transactions in two customers’ accounts in March 2016 and June 2016. On March 2018, 2016, he allegedly executed “a $22,000 trade in Class C mutual fund shares” in a customer’s accounts without obtaining that customer’s authorization in advance. Then, FINRA states, he executed a sale of nine securities for a sum of $27,004 in two other customers’ account on June 6, 2016, without their prior authorization. FINRA found that these actions constituted violations of FINRA Rule 2010, which concerns high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade. As a result of the foregoing alleged conduct, Korhut was suspended from associating with any FINRA member in any capacity for one month. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $5,000.

Eric Korhut’s disclosure records also list three settled or pending customer complaints against him. A 2018 complaint, for instance, alleged that as a representative of Vanderbilt Securities he erroneously submitted annuity transfer paperwork; the complaint reached a settlement of $6,498. A 2017 complaint alleged that as a representative of Ameriprise Financial Services, he recommended unsuitable variable annuity surrenders without disclosing their tax consequences; the complaint reached a settlement of $7,218.30. And a pending 2017 complaint alleges that as a representative of Ameriprise Financial Services, he recommended and sold an unsuitable variable annuity product; the complaint alleges damages of $150,000.

Eric Korhut is currently not registered as a broker or investment advisor. His employment history includes Vanderbilt Securities in Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Ameriprise Financial Services in Johnstown, Pennsylvania; and IDS Life Insurance Company in Minneapolis, Maryland. He currently holds zero state licenses and has passed four securities industry qualification examinations.