LPL Broker Permanently Barred for Failing to Respond to FINRA Investigation into Alleged Fraud and Unsuitability Claims
Roger Zullo, a former registered representative with LPL Financial LLC, has been barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for refusing to produce information and documents requested by FINRA in connection with an investigation into allegations of fraud, falsifying client suitability profiles and unsuitable variable annuity sales. FINRA’s investigation arose from a complaint, and subsequent Consent Order, by the Massachusetts Securities Division against Mr. Zullo and LPL Financial. FINRA began an investigation in January 2017 following allegations made in the complaint filed by the Massachusetts Securities Division. That complaint alleged that Mr. Zullo, of Boston, Massachusetts, “fabricated the financial suitability profiles of numerous LPL clients, selling them scores of large, illiquid, unsuitable, high-commission variable annuities, at substantial upfront profits to himself and LPL.” Further, the complaint alleged that Mr. Zullo prematurely switched out his clients’ existing annuities (which were also sold by Mr. Zullo), caused unnecessary surrender charges, and disregarded his clients’ investment profiles at an enormous profit to himself and LPL. The complaint states, “Over the course of three years, Zullo and LPL received more than $1,825,000 in variable annuity commissions alone; of this amount, more than $1,791,000, or 98%, represented commissions from the sale of the same annuity product, the Polaris Platinum III (B Shares) variable annuity.”
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