Financial crimes

Overall, the advisor defrauded at least nine clients out of $1 million, which he used to pay for tuition and mortgage payments, federal prosecutors say.

The Ponzi-like scheme used investor funds to pay other investors’ debts and cover personal expenses.

The advisor convinced the couple to transfer their retirement savings, but they claim the money never made it to their accounts. Their attorneys say there are other victims.

One topic under alleged examination is the monthly process through which prices of the benchmark’s futures contracts are calculated.

Miguel Ballestas was discharged from the firm after allegations of insider trading.

The funds paid for multiple vehicles, bedroom furniture and debts at casinos, prosecutors say.

The advisor fooled her victims into thinking she would invest their funds when in fact she used the money to buy luxury items and real estate, prosecutors claim.

An unregistered advisor with little investing experience raised $1.4 million from family and friends and then squandered the money on bad investments, federal prosecutors say.

The defrauded clients included the advisor’s own in-laws, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s and a debilitating stroke.

The claim alleged negligence, fraud and misrepresentation, according to the regulator.

One couple in their eighties invested more than $700,000 with the alleged schemers, representing almost the entirety of their cashed-out pension, regulators say.

A recent report about bad incentives for brokers "did not accurately reflect how we do business and serve our clients," said Jon Weiss, head of wealth and investment management.

Merrill Robertson Jr. had previously been sentenced to 40 years in prison in a separate criminal case.

The Justice Department disclosed a felony probe the day before the broker’s termination.

Many of the trades should have triggered market manipulation concerns because they involved companies that were barely operating but engaging heavily in promotional activity, the SEC says.

The bank is said to have been aware of the accusations for years.

A former spiritual advisor to presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama plans to turn himself in as his attorney vows innocence.

The broker misappropriated his clients’ investment money for rent, credit card bills and other personal uses, investigators say.

Barry Snyder’s complaint depicts him as a victim of federal investigators and the bank, with both sides threatening to turn on him.

The broker belonged to Morgan Stanley's Chairman's Club, a group reserved for the elite among the firm's advisor ranks.