Ridgewood stockbroker has been barred from the securities industry

Ridgewood stockbroker has been barred from the securities industry 

Penalties for North Jersey finance professionals in Ridgewood, Hawthorne

JUNE 16, 2014    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2014, 4:39 PM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

A Ridgewood stockbroker has been barred from the securities industry after selling $5 million in investments in two companies, allegedly without revealing the companies’ financial issues or that he was a part-owner of one of them.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, announced the action against Gregory J.P. Osborn of Ridgewood, who formerly worked for Middlebury Securities in Ridgewood. Osborn consented to the penalty without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

According to FINRA, Osborn was the primary salesman for Middlebury’s private offerings, which accounted for the majority of its revenues, before he left the company in mid-2012. He sold about $5 million in securities in two companies – NVG, a provider of financial-services software, and NVL, a telecommunications and computer company. The investments promised returns of 12 percent.

But, according to FINRA, Osborn failed to tell investors that NVG and its chief executive faced tax liens totaling more $3 million and that NVL had no revenues and was operating at a loss, as well as the fact that both companies had failed to repay previous investors, as promised.

In addition, FINRA said, Osborn did not disclose that he was a part-owner of NVL. According to FINRA, Osborn earned about $100,000 in commissions on these securities sales.

But investors weren’t so lucky, according to FINRA. “During the relevant period, investors never received any return of their principal and were never paid any interest,” FINRA said.

Osborn could not be reached for comment.

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