SWS Financial Services Representative Fined for Converting Client Funds
William Charlton Mays of Corpus Christi, Texas was barred from association with any FINRA member due to his conversion and misuse of customer funds while he was a representative of SWS Financial Services. Around August 2011, while Mr. Mays was still a member of SWS, he recommended a client to invest $50,000 in stocks and commodities. Mr. Mays allegedly told his client the $50,000 investment would yield 6% annual return. On September 6, 2011, Mr. Mays deposited the client’s $50,000 check into a bank account for May’s Financial Group, an organization Mr. Mays controls. A month later, his client requested his funds be returned, but Mays initially told the investor he couldn’t get the funds (but later gave his client $40,000). FINRA found that between September 2011 and October 2011 Mr. Mays converted and used upwards of $30,000 from his clients’ investment for personal expenses. For violation of FINRA conduct Rule 2150(a) and Rule 2010, Mr. Mays was barred from association with any FINRA member, ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, and ordered to pay restitution.
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