In May 2009, FINRA announced that William Joseph Boyle, a financial advisor for Citigroup and Legg Mason Wood Walker in Pennsylvania and Maryland , had been barred from the securities industry for wrongfully converting and using funds from customer accounts and for failing to cooperate with FINRA investigators.

According to the FINRA announcement, Boyle’s misconduct occurred while he was working for Legg Mason Wood Walker, which was acquired by Citigroup in 2006, and at Citigroup.

Specifically, FINRA found that Boyle deceived a 64 year old nun into giving him two separate checks totaling $531,000, which she believed would be deposited into accounts for her benefit. Instead, Boyle deposited one check into his personal bank account and the second into a mutual fund account held in his name. The nun had inherited the money when her mother died. Because she had taken a vow of poverty, she had intended for the money to go to her religious order.

Boyle was also named in at least two other claims with similar fact patterns while he worked at Legg Mason.

Boyle neither admitted nor denied the charges, but he did consent to FINRA’s findings.

If you have questions about investments you made with William Boyle or Legg Mason, or if you believe that you have been the victim of a securities fraud, The White Law Group may be able to help. To speak to a securities attorney, please call our Chicago office at 312-238-9650.

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 Boca Raton, Florida.

To learn more about The White Law Group, visit http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.