The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently announced that it has permanently barred Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, registered representative Michael J. DiMare, formerly registered with ING Financial Partners, Inc., from the securities industry for misappropriating over $1.9 million in client funds – while making false statements and sending falsified account statements and other documents statements to his customers to hide his scheme.
FINRA found that from at least 2001 to 2008, DiMare persuaded his clients to invest in fictitious financial products, including what purported to be tax-free corporate bonds and CDs. Between 2001 and 2006, DiMare was employed as a sales manager with John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company. Between October 2006 and May 2008, DiMare was registered as a registered representative/insurance agent with ING Financial Partners, Inc.
FINRA’s investigation found that 14 of DiMare’s clients wrote checks payable to John Hancock, believing they were making legitimate investments. DiMare simply collected the checks and deposited them in his own bank account and diverted their funds to his personal use. Even after he left John Hancock, DiMare made false statements to his customers by telling them he was still employed at that firm and had them write checks to John Hancock, which he then converted to his own use.
To conceal his misconduct, DiMare prepared and provided his clients with false account statements purporting to be from John Hancock. Those statements falsely indicated that the clients owned investments in tax-free corporate bonds and CDs.
In concluding this settlement, DiMare neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings.
If you have questions about investments you made with Michael DiMare, and would like to discuss your litigation options, please call the securities attorneys of The White Law Group at 312-238-9650 for a free consultation.
The White Law Group is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, and investor protection law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.
For more information on The White Law Group and the firm’s national securities fraud practice, visit https://whitesecuritieslaw.com.
Tags: ING Financial fraud, ING Financial losses, ING Financial Partners, ING Financial scam, Jacksonville, John Hancock Mutual Life, Michael DiMare, misappropriation, Ponte Vedra Beach, Ponte Vedra securities attorney, Securities Attorney, Securities Lawyer, St. Augustine, St. Augustine securities attorney, theft Last modified: December 5, 2022
