Toluca Pacific Fined Over Mutual Fund Deposits

Toluca Pacific Securities Corp. in Burbank and Peter J. Blowitz were fined $15,000 by the National Assn. of Securities Dealers Inc.

The brokerage firm and Blowitz consented to the NASD’s sanctions without admitting or denying the allegations.

The NASD found that the firm, through Blowitz, deposited $507,233 for mutual fund orders by customers into the firm’s checking account, rather than into a special account for the exclusive benefit of customers. The NASD also said that Blowitz and the firm failed to transmit promptly $50,000 from customers into the mutual fund.

In a separate action, the NASD has barred Lawrence R. Klein of Westlake Village from any association with an NASD member for five years. This sanction came after an appeal, and was based on the NASD’s findings that Klein had $17,000 wired from the joint account of customers and used the money to, among other things, repay money he owed to a third party, and that Klein had forged customers’ signatures on an authorization to transfer funds.