According to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website, the SEC recently announced the issuance of an Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings against Ronald Gene Anglin (Anglin), a resident of Canyon Country, California. Anglin was formerly a registered representative and investment adviser representative for Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. from September 2008 to May 2011.

In the Order, the Division of Enforcement alleges that on October 4, 2012, Anglin pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 1341 before the United States District Court for the Central District of California in the criminal action entitled U. S. v. Ronald Gene Anglin, Case No. 2:12-CR-00232-SJO.

The count of mail fraud to which Anglin pleaded guilty alleged, inter alia, that in or around 2010, Anglin executed a scheme whereby he forged letters of authorization purportedly from a customer to Merrill Lynch that requested the disbursement of the customer’s funds from the customer’s Merrill Lynch accounts to be sent by the United States Postal Service or a commercial interstate carrier to addresses that Anglin specified in the forged letters of authorization. Pursuant to the forged letters of authorization, the checks that Anglin caused to be mailed from the customer’s accounts at Merrill Lynch were made payable to people or entities that had no connection to the addresses to which he had the checks sent. When the checks arrived at those addresses, Anglin picked up the checks or had them brought either to him or to others acting under his instructions. Those checks from the customer’s accounts at Merrill Lynch then would be deposited in bank accounts under Anglin’s control or the control of someone in his wife’s family for their use.

A hearing will be scheduled before an administrative law judge to determine whether the allegations contained in the Order are true, to provide Anglin an opportunity to respond to these allegations, and to determine what sanctions, if any, are appropriate and in the public interest.

According to his FINRA Broker Report, Anglin has been involved in at least 6 customer disputes and he was terminated from Merrill Lynch in May 2011.  The stated reason for the termination was “allegations that the registered representative facilitated the opening of an unauthorized joint bank account at another financial institution and the unauthorized transfer of funds from the client’s accounts to third parties unknown to the client.”

The foregoing information, which is publicly available on the SEC and FINRA’s websites, is being provided by The White Law Group.  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 a free consultation with a securities attorney, please call The White Law Group at 312/238-9650.  For more information on the firm, visit http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.