Stockbrokers lie, cheat and steal everyday. Just look at our blog, in today’s news, a broker was suspended for only a few months following an investigation and six unauthorized trading complaints. Another brokerage firm was found to have defrauded its customers 642 times and was simply fined.
Such is not the case for Mia Carol Higens. Mia Carol Higens, of Madisonville, Kentucky, was permanently barred as a broker or otherwise associating with a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member firm in any capacity after consenting to findings that she failed to cooperate in a FINRA investigation containing allegations that Higens converted funds from a non-profit organization. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, No. 2014040607802 (Feb. 10, 2016).
Mia Carol Higens’s crime, according to the AWC, Higens worked in the capacity of a non-profit youth basketball organization’s president and treasurer. Higens was reportedly the only individual who could sign in the checking account of the organization. The AWC stated that Higens had withdrawn $240.00 from the organization’s checking account in order to pay personal items that were unassociated with the organization.
The AWC stated that Higens was charged with misdemeanor theft in connection with taking the organization’s funds in March 2014. Higens pled guilty to the theft charge in July 2014, and was ordered to pay back the organization’s $240.00 via restitution. FINRA found that as a result of Higens converting the aforementioned funds for her own personal use, she had violated FINRA Rule 2010.
The AWC stated that FINRA requested information and documentation from Higens on July 9, 2014, via a FINRA Rule 8210 request, in connection with Higens’ theft charges. Higens reportedly never responded to FINRA by their deadline of July 16, 2014. Higens then received a second request from FINRA to provide the information and documentation which Higens did not respond to.
FINRA had eventually notified Higens on November 14, 2014, after not having received the requested information and documentation, that she would face suspension on December 8, 2014. The AWC stated that five months after FINRA’s second request to Higens was provided and within days of the December 8, 2014 scheduled suspension, Higens’ counsel responded with information. FINRA found that Higens had violated Rules 8210 and 2010 as a result of not timely complying with FINRA’s requests, resulting in Higens being barred by FINRA. Public disclosure records reveal that Ameriprise discharged Higens in connection with her theft plea.
Guiliano Law Group
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