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November 30, 2021 at 03:58 PM
What You Need to Know
- Morgan Stanley allowed the ex-broker to resign after a client alleged he used a client credit line for himself.
- FINRA barred him after he refused to cooperate with its investigation into his termination from the firm.
- Through his lawyer, the broker denied the client's claim.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority barred a former Morgan Stanley broker who allegedly helped himself to more than $61,000 from a client credit line for his own personal use and then refused to cooperate in the industry self-regulator’s investigation into his actions, according to FINRA.
Without admitting or denying FINRA’s findings, Jesus Rodriguez signed a FINRA letter of acceptance, waiver and consent on Nov. 23 in which he consented to a bar from associating with any FINRA members in all capacities as part of a settlement. FINRA signed the letter Monday.
Rodriguez first became registered with FINRA in 2005. In June 2009, he registered through Morgan Stanley as a general securities representative, according to FINRA.
On Sept. 3, Morgan Stanley filed a Form U5 termination notice in which it disclosed Rodriguez had resigned a month earlier following “[a]llegations regarding registered representative’s use of client line of credit for his personal benefit.”
According to his report on FINRA’s BrokerCheck website, a dispute was filed against him on July 15 in which clients alleged the broker “used their line of credit for his personal benefit.” The complaint requested damages of $61,431 and is still pending, according to the BrokerCheck report.
Additional Disputes Followed
After his resignation from Morgan Stanley, five more client disputes were filed against him, all still pending. First, on Aug. 23, a client alleged funds were misappropriated from her account in March 2020, and she requested $28,000. On the same day, another client alleged that funds were withdrawn from their account without their knowledge.
