FINRA bars former J.P. Morgan rep accused of theft

Another bank rep has joined the roll of individuals ousted from the industry for failing to cooperate with FINRA probes.

Michael Mahabir, a former J.P. Morgan registered rep in Monrovia, California, was barred for failing to provide the regulator with the documents it needed to investigate allegations that he converted funds from a bank customer, according to his settlement with FINRA.
Failure to comply with FINRA inquiries automatically results in a bar.

Mahabir was discharged from J.P. Morgan Chase Bank in December for assisting a bank customer with a bank account withdrawal and allegedly failing to provide the customer with the full amount of the withdrawal, according to his BrokerCheck report.

Mahabir denied the claim, the report notes.

In his settlement with FINRA, Mahahir neither admitted nor denied the allegations but consented to an entry of the regulator's findings. He could not be reached for comment.

Mahabir worked for both J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and J.P. Morgan Securities from October 2012 until his dismissal in December 2016. He joined J.P.Morgan Chase Bank from Wells Fargo Bank in April 2012, BrokerCheck records show.

Elizabeth Seymour, a spokeswoman for J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, declined to comment on the matter.

Mahabir joins a string of other reps who were barred this year for not cooperating with FINRA. Scott Sherwin Polish, a former Wells Fargo broker in Ohio, was banished in May for refusing to comply with an investigation into allegations that he took money from an elderly couple. At least five others were ousted prior to May, including Angelina Ozlem Todurge, a former broker with J.P. Morgan Securities in Florida who declined to cooperate with a FINRA inquiry into claims that she converted $13,000 for personal use.