Evening star., 1938-12-29
Gusts
Sisto, Figure in
32Wa|kerC Case
Firm Once Suspended
Accused Of Improper
Business Conduct
BY the Associated Press.

business NOnOuCC
BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Dec. 29-The New
York Stock Exchange today expelled
from membership j. A. Sisto, general
partner in j. A. Sisto & Co., for i'm
proper business conduct.
Sisto in 1882 was prominently in
volved by Samuel Seabury in the
removal charges against former
Mayor James j. Walker in connec-
ton with an alleged gift to Walker
by Sisto of bonds worth more than
$4,000.
Today's expulsion was the first
since that of Richard Whitney, for
mer president of the exchange, now
serving sentence in Sing Sing
Prison.
Investigation Ordered.
Immediately following the expul-
sion, State Attorney General John
j. Bennett, jr., ordered Assistant At
torney General Ambrose V. Mccall,
in charge of the Securities Fraud
Bureau. to conduct an investigation
Ito protect the public interest"
Assistant Attorney General Will
liam Koerner was directed particu-
larly to protect the interests of 300
stockholders of Sisto Financial Corp,
of which Sisto is president and a
director, and which company is not
subject to jurisdiction of the stock
exchange.
One of the charges against Sisto
was that he had sold stock to Sisto
Financial Corp. at prices greatly in
excess of those he paid.
1t also was reported that the Sc
curities and Exchange Commission
and District Attorney Thomas E.
Dewey had begun separate investi-
cations.
Summoned to Appear.
Immediately after his expulsion
from the stock exchange, Sisto was
summoned to appear before the
Business Conduct Committee of the
New York Curb Exchange.
- IA. oAoIo N W. was OIlCe pre-
viously suspended from the stock
exchange, when in financial Difficult
ties. but reinstated in 1881.
Sisto's present membership was
purchased in 1881 at a reported cost
of about 100000. Under normal
procedure the exchange would sell
the seat and hold the proceeds in
escrow for any creditors of Sisto.
The most recent sales of a member
ship was at $4,000. No charges
were made today touching the
solvency of j. A. Sisto g. Co.
Sisto Makes Statement.
Following his suspension, Sisto is
sued this statement:
For the past several years the
firm Of j. A. Sisto & Co., of which
I am a member and floor partner,
has done business only on a cash
basis, carrying no margin accounts.
A full answer was made to the
Board of Governors of the New York
Stock Exchange to the charges. In
my opinion, my conduct was in all
respects proper. The boards inter-
probation of the rules was other
wise. AS a practical matter I have
no right Of appeal or other means
of redress. have no further COM
ment to make
The exchange said Sisto had been
expelled on three general charges.
The first charge said he had
caused the Sisto Financial Corp,
OF which he was president and a
director and which he dominated
and controlled, to purchase from
him at $23 share a total of 1000
shares of the stock of Sisto Finan-
cial Corp, which he had purchased
about the same time for s15.121s.
Changing of Accounts Charged.
Sisto also was found guilty of
having changed "by erasure' his
trading. personal and corporation
accounts during the last seven
months of 1887.
A third charge of which the ex-
change found him guilty asserted
that on 80 different days in 1887 his
firm had conducted transactions for
Sisto Financial in a cash account
which were not bona fide cash
transactions.
This count claimed the records of
his company did not truly reflect
the status" of various company ac-
counts and that the account named
on the companys order books had
been changed so as to place profit
able transactions in a firm trading
account and improbable transac-
ton - his personal account
j. A. Sisto g. Co. was suspended
(See SISTO, page A-6.)