Hank Mark Werner sold his client an unsuitable variable annuity and then churned the account by frequently buying and selling assets to generate excessive fees for himself and losing her investment money, the FINRA complaint says.
FINRA ordered Werner to pay more than $155,000 in restitution to the widow, fined him $80,000 and ordered disgorgement of more than $10,000 representing commissions received for recommending the purchase of an unsuitable variable annuity. He also was barred from the financial industry.
Werner had been broker for the elderly widow and her husband, who also was blind, since 1994. The husband died in 2012 and that same year Werner began “plundering” her account by engaging “in such an active trading strategy that, when the high commissions he charged were taken into account, it was impossible for her to make money.”
FINRA found Werner frequently bought and sold a security within a week or two, and charged exorbitant commissions even though the blind widow’s financial circumstances required that Werner invest her assets with a minimum amount of risk. She was 77 and in ill health when Werner began churning her accounts. Werner engaged in more than 700 trades from October 2012 to December 2015, generating approximately $210,000 in commissions while the customer lost more than $175,000 as a result of his reckless trading.
Werner worked for Legend Securities Inc., which was also named in the complaint for failing to respond to FINRA and for failing to properly supervise him. Legend was censured and fined $200,000. Legend voluntarily paid $20,000 in partial restitution to the customer.
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Broker Bilked Elderly, Blind Widow
Be a bit afraid of your broker.
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