State seeks to halt Scituate man's stock sales

State regulators today filed an administrative complaint against a Scituate man who is accused of selling securities without being registered to do so.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin’s office said Thomas John McKenna, 52, operated as an unregistered broker-dealer, soliciting investors for companies he represented through his own firm, Sales Fusion Inc., of Norwell.

Attempts to reach McKenna and Sales Fusion were not immediately successful.

The complaint says McKenna, either himself or through his company, has made at least 104 sales transactions that totaled about $2.5 million since 2001; the commissions came to at least $375,185, and the average commission was 16 percent of the investment. Some commissions were as high as 40 percent, the complaint says.

The state is seeking a cease-and-desist order, unspecified fines, and an order that people who bought the securities be offered the chance to rescind the deals.

‘‘My office is determined to crack down on securities salesmen who operate without registering with the Securities Division, especially when they are peddling high-risk stocks for large commissions,’’ Galvin said in a prepared statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)