A Yonkers investment broker who was accused of misappropriating client funds has been banned from associating with anyone in the securities industry.
David Nathan Cohen refused to cooperate with an investigation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, according to a disciplinary action issued on March 3, but consented to FINRA’s findings.
FINRA says Cohen was fired last year for failure to cooperate with his employer’s review of allegations that he used client funds “to support his business.”
The disciplinary action does not identify Cohen’s personal business, but his registration record lists him as 95% owner of Ballparking Ventures LLC, a mobile app for locating and renting parking spaces.
Cohen registered as a financial adviser in 2006 and worked for a firm in Manhattan. In 2019, he went to work for Cetera Investment Services, of St. Cloud, Minnesota, in Yonkers.
Last year, Cetera received a customer complaint alleging that Cohen had misappropriated $500,000. He failed to cooperate with an internal review and was fired on Dec. 9.
FINRA requires members to provide information about matters concerning investigations or complaints. But on Feb. 6, in response to FINRA’s demand for on-the-record testimony, Cohen stated in an email that he would not appear at any time.
FINRA says Cohen’s refusal to testify violated a rule that requires “high standards of commercial honor, and just and equitable principles of trade.”
Cohen’s registration record also identifies three federal tax liens for unpaid personal income taxes, filed from 2017 to 2023, totaling $367,366. (The Westchester County Clerk’s online records, however, also show a lien filed in 2013, bringing the total to $440,103.)
New York State tax warrants in 2019 and 2026 lists a David Cohen from the same Yonkers zip code as owing $144,538 in personal income taxes.
FINRA is a nonprofit organization empowered by federal law to supervise investment brokers. A ban from associating with any member, in effect, prevents an individual from acting in any capacity in the industry.
Cohen signed the disciplinary action on Feb. 19, accepting FINRA’s findings but neither admitting nor denying them.
