A financial advisor who lost his job at J.P. Morgan Securities over allegations that he skirted
Liet Han was fired from JPMorgan in January 2018 after his wife decided to break $15,000 in cash into two parts for deposit at their bank following their discovery that putting the money in all at once would require her to fill out a currency transaction report. That document, also known as a CTR, is used to combat money laundering and is required for all cash transactions over $10,000.
Han's lawyer in the FINRA case, Blaine Bortnick, the managing partner of Rasco Klock Perez & Nieto's New York office, said the $15,000 was a gift Han and his wife had received at their wedding on July 2, 2017 — the day before the initial attempted deposit. Han's wife took the money to JPMorgan Chase for safekeeping in the bank account they maintained there, Bortnick said.
When the clerk at the bank told her that she'd have to fill out the form, Bortnick said, she decided it would be easier simply to break the amount into two smaller parts. They deposited the money in separate installments on July 3 and 5, 2017.
"The crux to the anti-money laundering law is that there has to be intent," Bortnick said. "And there was obviously no intent here to pull the wool over the eyes of his own employer. He could have just as easily gone to another bank and deposited the money in a joint checking account."
A representative of JPMorgan said the company didn't agree with the ruling.
"We are concerned about the impact of this decision on the industry's fight against money laundering," said Veronica Navarro, a spokesperson for the firm. "We plan to vigorously pursue all legal options."
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Besides being awarded $2.5 million in compensatory damages, Han on Friday
Upon court approval of the FINRA arbitration decision, that will be changed to say that the firm "exercised its right to terminate the registered representative as an at-will employee." Any references to his alleged attempt to avoid filling out Form CTR will also be removed from FINRA's registration records.
The FINRA arbitrators' decision to award Han $2.5 million
The most recent of those training sessions, according to Regenbogen, took place barely more than 20 days before the Hans' deposit was broken into two separate installments. Regenbogen noted that Han and his wife were suspected specifically of a type of violation known as "structuring" — breaking cash payments into smaller parts to skirt the reporting requirements under anti-money laundering law.
Regenbogen said that Han, despite his training on the need to avoid structuring, had testified that his "mind kept slipping" when his wife mentioned the need to fill out a CRT form.
"The facts speak for themselves," Regenbogen wrote. "The claimant and his wife pulled back from the teller their $15,000+ cash transaction at the very moment they were confronted with what the claimant surely knew was the need to file a CTR, and then immediately structured their cash transaction to avoid the CTR."
Bob Pearce, a securities lawyer at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce in Boca Raton, Florida, said it's "extraordinarily rare" to have a dissenting opinion in any FINRA arbitration case and "infinitely rare" to have a dissenter go to such lengths to explain his reasons. Pearce represents advisors and brokerages in arbitration but wasn't involved in this case.
"Usually if there is any disagreement, it's over the amount of the award, and that's resolved internally through compromise," Pearce said. "So to have the dissenting arbitrator say, 'I thought the award amount should be a flat-out zero based on the evidence,' it really was extraordinary."
Bortnick said the case really came down to how much credibility the majority of the FINRA found in his client's story and testimony. Bortnick noted Regenbogen dissented only to the $2.5 million in compensatory damages, not his client's request to have his BrokerCheck record modified.
"Reading between the lines, he did not want to award the money but was OK with expungement," Bortnick said. "That's a little inconsistent."
An attempt to reach Regenbogen through his LinkedIn page was unsuccessful.
Han, now a financial advisor with Ameriprise at Hillsboro, New Jersey-based Evergreen Financial Group, had initially sought $5 million in compensatory damages. Bortnick said the large amount was justified by the years it took to bring the case to a resolution.
Han said his attempts to rebuild his practice following his firing from JPMorgan have been hindered by his official record.
"It feels very good to clear my name and the stigma that's been associated with this," Han said. "I feel that a weight's been lifted off my shoulders."
Before joining JPMorgan Securities in 2012, Han was at Chase Investment Services for nearly three years starting 2009 and Ameriprise Financial Services for nearly five years starting in 2004.
Separately,
That will now be changed to "Terminated by affiliate bank — non securities related, for allegedly violating employer's process for computer maintenance transactions. A panel of three FINRA arbitrators determined there was insufficient evidence to warrant termination."
Besides the $300,000 compensatory damages, JPMorgan will have to pay $440 to reimburse Iglesias for his filing fee and $8,400 in hearing costs. A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to comment on this case. Attempts to reach Iglesias and his lawyers were unsuccessful.
Iglesias joined JPMorgan in 2016, and is currently not affiliated with any other firm, according to
