Broker from NEWBRIDGE SECURITIES CORPORATION of BOCA RATON Sentenced in the Forcefield Energy (FNRG) Stock Manipulation

Soreide Law Group, located in Pompano Beach, Florida, has filed a lawsuit against NEWBRIDGE SECURITIES CORPORATION of BOCA RATON, FL, for not supervising their registered representative in the sale of the ForceField Energy Inc (FNRG) stock.
One of their brokers, GERALD JOHN COCUZZO (JERRY COCUZZO) CRD#: 4047511, was sentenced on July 7, 2017, to 18 months in prison after having pled guilty to securities fraud for his role in the fraudulent market manipulation of ForceField Energy Inc., a publicly traded company previously listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol FNRG.
On November 18, 2016, Soreide Law Group published the following on our blog:
https://www.securitieslawyer.com/gerald-j-cocuzzo-forcefield-energy/ 
According to court filings, between 2009 and 2015, Gerald Cocuzzo and others engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in ForceField, a distributor of LED lighting products, by artificially controlling the price and volume of traded shares of ForceField (FNRG) through: (1) using nominees to purchase and sell ForceField stock without disclosing this information to investors; (2) orchestrating the trading of ForceField stock to create the misleading appearance of genuine trading volume and interest in the stock; (3) concealing secret payments to stock promoters and broker/dealers who promoted and sold ForceField (FNRG) to investors while falsely claiming to be independent of the company. The fraudulent scheme caused a loss of approximately $131 million.
From January 2015 through April 2015, according to court records, Cocuzzo received secret cash kickbacks from a ForceField executive in exchange for purchasing ForceField stock in his clients’ brokerage accounts. Cocuzzo did not disclose these payments to his clients. The lawsuit states that Cocuzzo and his co-conspirators concealed their participation in the fraudulent scheme by using prepaid, disposable cellular telephones and encrypted, content-expiring messaging applications to communicate with each other, and by paying kickbacks in cash during in-person meetings.
The July 7, 2017 sentencing is the third sentencing to take place in connection with the fraud in ForceField securities. Five other defendants who pled guilty, and one defendant convicted after trial, are awaiting sentencing.
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, Gerald Cocuzzo was registered in the securities industry for 6 years, and was listed with 9 firms with the two most recent listed below:
12/22/2014 - 05/03/2016 NEWBRIDGE SECURITIES CORPORATION - BOCA RATON, FL
09/18/2009 - 01/13/2015  IAA FINANCIAL LLC - Boca Raton, FL
If you purchased Forcefield Energy (FNRG) stock from former Newbridge Securities of Boca Raton, Florida, broker Gerald Cocuzzo, or another broker/dealer and experienced financial losses of your investment call Soreide Law Group, based in Pompano Beach, Florida, for a no-cost consultation with an experienced securities lawyer regarding the recovery of your losses at:  888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group represents clients before FINRA nationwide on a contingency fee basis.  Let our experience work for you.