South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
FINRA Arbitration Suitability and Over Concentration Fraud and Mismanagement Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.
March, 2011:
Craig Michael Bettencourt (CRD #3230665, Registered Representative, Concord, Massachusetts) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, Bettencourt consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that without his client’s authorization, he created a debit memorandum from his client’s account for $35,000 and directed that the debit memorandum be converted to a check payable to a bank where Bettencourt held a personal account. The findings stated that Bettencourt endorsed the check and deposited it into his personal account at the bank, converting the funds to his personal use and benefit. The findings also stated that to disguise the conversion, Bettencourt created a false Certificate of Deposit (CD) in his client’s name for $35,000, created a false CD account in his client’s name and delivered a receipt to his client. (FINRA Case #2010023336301).