Regulators have launched a disciplinary proceeding alleging that a fired Merrill Lynch broker in Portland, Oregon, Ali F. Chehab, refused to cooperate with a probe into whether he conducted unauthorized trades and made material misrepresentations to clients, among other potential violations of industry rules and federal securities law.
Chehab, registered through Merrill from July 2023 to August 2024, refused to produce documents requested by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and told its staff in a November email, “I’m not going to provide that information and I do not care if I get barred," according to a complaint that FINRA's enforcement department filed Tuesday with the agency's Office of Hearing Officers.
Merrill told FINRA that the ex-broker was discharged in July 2024 for "failure to adhere to firm standards" regarding an impermissible recommendation to a self-directed client, prohibited use of personal email to conduct firm business, and "selling away," or offering securities not approved by the firm. The firm later disclosed that it was conducting an internal review into Chehab’s “conduct involving unauthorized trading in Merrill Lynch client accounts," the complaint states.
Chehab's FINRA BrokerCheck record shows two settlements made last summer over customer complaints. One customer alleged that the advisor used their sign-on to trade the client's self-directed account from May 2024 through August 2024 in a matter settled for over $319,400, the record shows. Another customer dispute, settled for nearly $42,800, made the same allegation for the same period.
"Chehab's failure to provide the requested information and documents impeded FINRA's investigation into his potential misconduct because he deprived FINRA of documents and information that was material to its investigation," the complaint alleges.
No one responded immediately to a request for comment sent Wednesday to what appears to be Chehab's personal email address. Previously, he was registered with Equitable Advisors for eight months.
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