Estevao Semedo: Ex-PFS Advisor Barred After OBA Investigation

Former Brockton, Massachusetts financial advisor Estevao Semedo (CRD# 4631886) was recently sanctioned in connection with alleged rule violations. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that he was most recently registered as a broker with PFS Investments.

Mr. Semedo’s BrokerCheck report discloses the FINRA sanction against him, filed in December 2023. According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (No. 2023078507801), FINRA sent him a request for information and documents in May 2023. The request was made in connection with FINRA’s investigation into whether he “engaged in undisclosed outside business activities and failed to timely disclose a felony charge.” In October 2023, following an extension of his time to respond to the request, he indicated to FINRA via counsel that he would not be producing the requested documents and information. FINRA found that his refusal constituted a violation of Rule 8210, which requires persons associated with FINRA to comply with such requests. It also found that he violated Rule 2010, under which brokers must observe high standards of commercial honor. Mr. Semedo was barred from associating with any FINRA member firm in any capacity.

A second disclosure on his BrokerCheck report concerns a criminal charge against him. In March 2023, he was charged in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud. He pleaded guilty. According to an August 2023 news report, prosecutors alleged that he “paid more than $17,000 in bribes to a road test examiner at the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV), to misrepresent to the RMV that driver’s license applicants had passed their road test when they had not.” He was sentenced to six months in prison and one year of supervised release.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Estevao Semedo holds 16 years of securities industry experience. He was registered with PFS Securities in Brockton, Massachusetts from 2006 until 2023. His credentials include the passage of four securities industry qualifying exams: the Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Principal Examination, or Series 26; the Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Representative Examination, or Series 6; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; and the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63. He is currently barred from acting as a broker. (Information current as of January 17, 2024.)

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