An advisor formerly registered with LPL Financial and Cetera Advisor Networks was suspended from the industry for 60 days for allegedly soliciting and receiving loans totaling $56,000 from two customers, according to a FINRA filing.
The regulator claims that Robert Charles Mangold borrowed $18,000 from a customer on Sept. 4, 2012, while employed at Cetera Advisor Networks, which was then known as Financial Network Investment Corp. The firm prohibited its registered reps from receiving loans from customers who were not immediate family members. He also allegedly borrowed $38,000 from another customer while later employed at LPL, which also specifically prohibited such loans.
Mangold was registered with Cetera from Sept. 9, 2010 through Sept. 18, 2012, and with LPL Financial from Sept. 18, 2012 through May 29, 2013, FINRA said. While at LPL, he was employed as an independent advisor, according to an LPL spokeswoman. Cetera declined to say whether he worked as an independent advisor or was employed at a bank or credit union while at Cetera.According to BrokerCheck, he worked for LPL in Mount Laurel, N.J., and with Cetera in El Segundo, Calif.
Mangold made a partial repayment of $10,000 on the $18,000 loan and a repayment of $15,000 on the $38,000 loan, FINRA noted. His suspension ends Jan. 1, 2015.
Mangold did not return a telephone and email message seeking comment. In his settlement with FINRA, Mangold neither admitted nor denied the charges but consented to an entry of FINRA's findings.
Amanda Keating, a spokesperson for LPL, had no comment beyond what was in FINRA's BrokerCheck report, indicating that Mangold was dismissed from LPL on May 29, 2013, for violating the firm's policy on borrowing money from individuals.
Matthew Griffes, a spokesperson for Cetera Financial Group, also declined to comment, saying that the company does not comment on regulatory or legal issues related to current or former advisors.
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