South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
Theft and Misuse of Clients’ Funds FINRA Attorney and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.
November, 2011:
Ralph Howly Phillips (CRD #2145356, Registered Principal, New Kensington, Pennsylvania)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, Phillips consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that his customers gave him funds to invest in various securities; Phillips instructed his customers to make their checks payable to a consulting company that Phillips owned and controlled. The findings stated that Phillips deposited the customers’ funds into the consulting company’s bank account, which he controlled, often delayed making the investments, and then only invested a portion of the funds his customers gave him. The findings also stated that Phillips misused the customers’ funds by using those funds to pay the consulting company’s expenses. The findings also included that Phillips willfully filed a Form U4 with materially false information. (FINRA Case #2009017746801).