SEC Charges Barry Connell with Stealing $5 Million

Concerned about Investment Losses with  Barry Connell?

On February 3, the SEC charged an investment adviser Barry Connell with stealing close to $5 million from client accounts. The SEC alleges that Connell initiated unauthorized wire transfers and issued checks to third parties to cover personal expenses.

The SEC further alleges that Barry Connell, who worked for Morgan Stanley in Ridgewood, NJ, conducted over 100 unauthorized transactions by using falsified authorization forms misrepresenting that he received verbal requests from the clients.  Connell allegedly used money from client accounts to rent a home in suburban Las Vegas and pay for a country club membership and private jet service.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York also filed criminal charges against Connell last week.

According to FINRA BrokerCheck, Connell was registered with Morgan Stanley in Ridgewood, NJ from 06/01/2009 – 12/07/2016. He has three customer disputes listed on his Broker Report. Allegations include unsuitable investments, unauthorized trades, and failure to follow instructions. He was discharged from Morgan Stanley in November 2016.

Brokerage firms are required to adequately supervise their advisors. They must ensure they are complying with FINRA rules.

When brokers abuse client accounts and conduct transactions that violate securities laws, the brokerage firm they are working with may be liable for investment losses. Brokerage firms that fail to monitor the business activities of their employees may be liable for investment losses due to negligent supervision for the misconduct of their employees.

The brokerage firms can be held responsible for any losses in a FINRA arbitration claim if it is determined that they failed to properly supervise their agent.

Recovery of Investment Losses

If you suffered losses investing with Barry Connell, the attorneys at The White Law Group may be able to help you. For a free consultation, please call (888) 637-5510.

The foregoing information, which is all publicly available, is being provided by The White Law Group.

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, please visit our website, www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.