FINRA Arbitration Panel Awards Morgan Stanley for $6 M for Damages

According to a FINRA award document, a FINRA arbitration panel has ordered former Morgan Stanley rep, Barry Connell, to pay the wirehouse $6 million in compensatory damages and interest.

As we told you in November, Connell was arrested February 2017 on charges of allegedly stealing $5 million from his clients. Connell is reportedly incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn pending trial on 15 counts of fraud and embezzlement.

The FINRA arbitrators reportedly ruled that the evidence submitted by Morgan Stanley was sufficient to make the award without any response from Connell, according to the document. In addition to the compensatory damages, Connell is liable for $2,500 for Morgan Stanley’s filing fee paid to FINRA, according to the award.

According to his FINRA BrokerCheck profile, Connell was registered with Morgan Stanley in Ridgewood, NJ from 2009 until he was fired in November 2016 for “Allegations regarding unauthorized withdrawals and transfers of funds from client’s household accounts to third-party payees, which appear to be for the benefit of the former registered representative.” Connell has 14 disclosure events listed on his broker report, including 10 customer complaints.

This information is all publicly available and is provided to you by The White Law Group.

If you have questions or concerns regarding investments made with Barry Connell, the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help. For a free consultation with a securities attorney, please call 888-637-5510.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Franklin, Tennessee.

For more information on The White Law Group, visit www.WhiteSecuritiesLaw.com.