Securities Arbitration Lawyers BlogSEC Charges Financial Advisor with Allegations of Misappropriating $800K
Ronald Molo (Ronald Terrence Molo CRD# 4371241) is a former registered broker and investment advisor whose last employer was Edward Jones (CRD#:250) of Joliet, IL. He began working for Edward Jones on 05/15/2001. The firm terminated him on 06/15/2021 and has no other employment in the industry.
Following Molo’s termination, three customers filed disputes on 6/16/2021, 6/18/2021, and 6/22/2021 with identical allegations of “former FA stole funds from them by wiring client funds to a bank account controlled by former FA’s spouse under the guise that they were making an investment.” It is not known if these were all filed by the same client or three different clients.
The disputes included requested damages of:
- $263,119.54
- $329,644.85
- $282,237.50
The total amount of the damage claims is $875,001.89.
FINRA first initiated an investigation, requesting documentation from Molo in support on 9/30/2021. Molo failed to respond to these requests, and FINRA then barred him from any association with any member firm, permanently and indefinitely beginning 1/3/2022.
On 10/21/2021, the State of Illinois began a regulatory action against Molo, with allegations that “relate to misappropriation of ~$800,000.00 of client funds and fictitious investments. See Illinois Securities Department Notice of Hearing dated October 26, 2021, in matter number 2100455.” This action is currently pending.
Then on 11/23/2021, the U. S. Securities And Exchange Commission initiated its own complaint alleging that Molo “stole” more than $800,000 from senior citizen investors without their knowledge or authorization. He did so by convincing them to transfer these funds from their own financial institutions to be invested in tax-free bonds. These bonds did not exist, and the investors unknowingly transferred their funds into an account owned by Molo himself.
The complaint states that Molo misused approximately $778,000, and then used $22,000 to make “interest payments” to the investors to cover his fraud and deception with monies from his own account using altered cashiers’ checks. When Edward Jones uncovered Molo’s scheme, the firm fired him. The civil action by the SEC is also currently “pending.”
Did You Invest With Ronald Terrence Molo?
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