FCC ALJ: Sham Station Seller Doesn't Have Character to Be Licensee
A broadcaster who executed a sham transfer of his radio and TV stations to his 17-year-old niece and falsely certified that he was a U.S. citizen doesn’t have the character to be an FCC licensee, ruled FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin in an order in Monday’s Daily Digest (see 2504090035). Antonio Guel is barred from future broadcast ownership and must pay a penalty of $188,491, and any broadcaster that uses him as a consultant is required to attach a copy of Halprin’s decision against him to all their FCC filings, the order said. The Media Bureau designated Guel and his company Hispanic Christian Community Network’s 2010 sale of stations to Guel’s niece for hearing in 2023.
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Halprin said the “meaningful, if unorthodox” penalty is in place because the agency doesn’t have the authority to permanently bar Guel from serving as a consultant to other broadcasters as requested by the Enforcement Bureau. Guel already surrendered all his broadcast licenses, which likely would otherwise have been revoked. Halprin found that Guel executed false transfers of control, abused FCC processes, misrepresented information to the FCC and repeatedly gave conflicting information about the ownership of multiple companies operated by members of his family. Halprin said, “A preponderance of the evidence presented in this proceeding shows utterly no attention paid to statutory and regulatory responsibilities except to the extent that they could be manipulated to suit Mr. Guel’s business purposes."