The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker James Polese. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, James Polese has been the subject of multiple customer disputes connected to defrauding his customers.
James Polese was a Massachusetts based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for twenty-one years. During his career, he was registered with four different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.
His Registrations
- Prudential Securities Incorporated (1995-2003)
- Wachovia Securities (2003-2004)
- UBS Financial Services (2004-2010)
- Morgan Stanley (2010-2017)
The Allegations
In January 2018, James Polese was officially sanctioned by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The findings in this matter state that James Polese defrauded multiple customers out of almost half a million dollars through various investment schemes. Almost all of the money was taken from one particular elderly customer by moving $250,000 from their account to Polese’s personal bank account. Polese allegedly then used another $100,000 of the customer’s funds to make investments in his own name. He then allegedly made systemic withdrawals from the same customer’s account to pay credit card bills and tuition expenses for his children. These alleged unauthorized withdrawals totaled $93,000. According to the SEC findings, James Polese defrauded more customers by charging client advisory fees 50 percent higher than the rate he repeatedly promised to charge, and by obtaining a loan from a customer with terms highly unfavorable to them. Due to these allegations, James Polese was convicted of ‘Investment Adviser Fraud’, ‘Conspiracy’, ‘Bank Fraud’, and ‘Aggravated Identity Theft’. He was also barred from acting as a securities broker in any fashion. He had already been terminated from his position at Morgan Stanley the previous June due to the allegations.
What Does This Mean?
Misappropriating a customer’s funds is one of the most blatant and egregious transgressions a securities broker could ever commit against an investor. It almost always, as was the case here, centers around a securities broker believing they can take advantage of one of their elderly customers. They believe they have found themselves in a situation where the particular investor trusts them implicitly. The broker then exploits this trust and attempts to steal the investor’s money without them noticing. This is usually done by the broker telling them they are moving it to a better account and then falsifies financial information like the account’s value.
Oakes & Fosher Can Help
Many investors are unaware of the legal recourse available to them after losing money due to securities broker fraud and/or negligence. The truth is that investors who have lost money in this fashion may actually be entitled to damages.
Oakes & Fosher dedicates its entire legal practice to helping investors across the nation. If you, or someone you know, have lost money investing with James Polese, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation.
