Jennifer Lillian Basey, a former registered representative of Edward D. Jones & Co., submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) in which she consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that she falsified a customer’s signature and forged customers’ initials.
According to FINRA, Jennifer Basey of Lehigh Acres Florida falsified a customer’s signature on a document to facilitate an authorized customer asset transfer. Further, between October 22, 2019 and November 5, 2019, Ms. Basey forged the initials of two other customers, a married couple, to facilitate another transfer. For violating FINRA Rule 2010, which requires FINRA members to observe high standards of commercial honor, FINRA assessed Ms. Basey a fine of $5,000 and suspended her for two months. The suspension is in effect from April 20, 2020 through June 19, 2020.
Stockbrokers, registered representatives, and other financial industry professionals have been known to engage in many types of fraudulent and unlawful behavior, such as forgery of documents and/or unauthorized transfers of funds, which violate industry rules and procedures. In order to protect investors from such misconduct, FINRA rules require broker-dealers to establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system. The implementation of the rules requires supervisors to monitor employees to ensure they comply with federal and state securities laws, securities industry rules and regulations, as well as the brokerage firm’s own policies and procedures. If broker-dealers and their supervisors do not establish and implement these protective measures, they may be liable to account holders for losses flowing from the misconduct. Therefore, investors who have suffered losses stemming from account document falsifications and/or forgery by their broker can bring forth claims to recover damages against broker-dealers, like Edward Jones, which should consistently oversee its brokers’ activities in order to prevent the above-described prohibited conduct.
Have you suffered losses in your Edward Jones account due to forged documents and/or unauthorized activity by your broker? Was Jennifer Basey your stockbroker? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation. Mr. Pearce is accepting clients with valid claims against Edward Jones stockbrokers who may have engaged in misconduct and caused investors losses.
The most important of investors’ rights is the right to be informed! This Investors’ Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 40 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors’ rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.