Ex-Brokers Settle SEC Kickback Charges

Three former brokers settled federal charges they took kickbacks to promote the penny stock of defunct San Diego Bancorp. Mark Savage, George Panagiotou Jr. and Dean Verrigni agreed to pay more than $50,000 and to be barred from the brokerage business, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. The agency waived payment of all but $16,000 because the defendants aren’t able to pay, the SEC said. Savage; his lawyer, Virginia Chavez; and Panagiotou, who had no lawyer, couldn’t be reached for comment. Verrigni declined to comment. The SEC said the three took kickbacks from Peter Tosto, a promoter, to sell the stock to their retail customers. Tosto was forced out of the securities industry by the National Assn. of Securities Dealers in 1991 and was fined $1.1 million by the SEC in 1997 for his involvement with San Diego Bancorp shares. In the settlements, Savage, Verrigni and Panagiotou neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s charges.