D. Blech & Co. finance news

David Blech, head of the defunct D. Blech & Co., must personally pay compensatory damages of more than $880,000 as a result of arbitration cases filed by four stockbrokers in the firm's Boca Raton, Fla., office, according to a spokesperson for Lloyd Schwed, the attorney who represented the brokers. D. Blech & Co. closed in September 1994 after it failed to comply with National Association of Securities Dealers capitalization requirements. The separate claims for unpaid salaries and punitive damages were presented in September to NASD arbitration panels, which declined the brokers' requests for punitive damages. The awards range from $150,000 to $324,000. ...