Merrill Lynch has agreed to a $9.5 million settlement with former Miami Dolphin Reshad Jones, whose now-barred advisor was separately charged this summer with stealing funds from the athlete.
Jones had filed a complaint with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority against former Merrill broker Isaiah T. Williams in December alleging misappropriation, misrepresentations, unsuitable asset allocation strategy and improper outside business activity, records provided by Florida regulators show.
The client claimed $16 million in damages, according to FINRA, which reports a settlement date of Aug. 14.
InvestmentNews reported on the matter Wednesday.
A lawyer who has represented Williams, 33, before FINRA didn't immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.
Williams, barred from the industry in April, was arrested in June on felony charges of grand theft, communications fraud, money laundering and fraudulent use of personal information in connection with a reported theft from Jones of nearly $2.6 million.
A spokesman for Jones' lawyers, Chase Carlson of Carlson Law and Jeff Sonn of Sonn Law Group, said they could not comment on the settlement due to FINRA arbitration rules. He directed ThinkAdvisor to the lawyers' statement in July, calling the case "yet another troubling example of a professional athlete being exploited by a wealth management firm he trusted."
A Merrill spokesperson on Wednesday referred ThinkAdvisor to a statement the firm provided in July: “Whenever we learn of potential wrongdoing, we promptly investigate, fully cooperate with regulators and law enforcement, and work with the client to compensate them for any harm caused by an employee. Putting clients first and protecting client assets have been guiding principles of Merrill since our founding more than 100 years ago.”
Williams' FINRA BrokerCheck record shows his affiliation with the firm started in 2017 and he voluntarily resigned in December while under internal review into “allegations of misappropriation, unsuitable asset allocation, misrepresentations, and an improper business activity.”
Broward County prosecutors accused Williams of scheming to defraud Jones and transferring the client’s money to accounts that he used for his own benefit, without permission, while acting as his financial advisor from May 2020 to April 2024.
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