The Securities Arbitration Law Firm of KlaymanToskes announced today that it is investigating Wells Fargo Advisors (“WFA”) relating to the conduct of former Wells Fargo Advisor James Arnold Busch (“Busch”) and the supervision of his activities. In October of 2013, Busch entered into an Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”) with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) in connection with his alleged misappropriation of about $1.3 million from about eight WFA brokerage customers.
According to the AWC “at relevant times, Busch worked in various branch offices of WFA located in the Firm’s affiliated bank. Many of Busch’s customers had both Wells Fargo brokerage accounts and Wells Fargo bank accounts, and Busch had access to his customers’ bank account information. From approximately 2006 to 2013, Busch utilized his customers’ bank account information to misappropriate approximately $1.3 million from approximately eight of his Wells Fargo brokerage customers, most of whom were elderly women.”
The AWC added, “Busch misappropriated money from his customers using two primary methods. Between approximately 2009 and 2013, Busch typically called his credit card company’s automated system and requested payments from his customers’ Wells Fargo bank accounts to his personal credit card account. Busch provided his credit card company with the customers’ Wells Fargo bank routing and bank account numbers to effectuate the transactions. Prior to 2009, Busch used a manual process, whereby he submitted a paper debit memo to his credit card company in order to authorize payments from his customers’ bank accounts to Busch’s credit card account. In some instances, Busch liquidated securities from the customers’ brokerage accounts in order to generate cash. The cash was transferred from the customers’ brokerage accounts to the customers’ bank accounts prior to Busch’s misappropriation of the funds.”
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, during the time period of 2009 through early October 2013, Busch was registered with WFA. Under FINRA Rules, WFA was obligated to properly supervise the activities of Busch during the time he was registered the brokerage firm. Accordingly, WFA may be liable for failing to supervise Busch’s activities while registered at the firm, and could potentially be responsible for compensating customers of Busch for their losses.
Customers of James Arnold Busch who sustained losses are encouraged to contact KlaymanToskes to explore their legal rights and options. KlaymanToskes can be reached, toll free, at 888-997-9956.