Robert Bales, the US Army staff sergeant accused of massacring 16 Afghan civilians, was a former stockbroker, who enlisted in the U.S. Army to apparently avoid paying an elderly Ohio couple of their life savings in a stock fraud.
According to FINRA records, from 1996 through 2000, Bales was associated with at least seven brokerage firms, at least 3 of which were closed by securities regulators for the failure to pay customer arbitration awards or self-regulatory rules.
In 2003, Gary K. Liebschner sued Bales and his employer in FINRA securities arbitration (then the NASD) to recover the $852,000. In his case, Liebschner Claimant asserted the following causes of action: unauthorized trades; failure to provide Claimant with competent and professional services; breach of contractual and legal duties; violation of Rules of the NASD and the New York Stock Exchange; unsuitability; failure to supervise; misrepresentations and omissions of material facts; breach of fiduciary duty; and failure to know your customer. Claimant’s claim involved the stocks of Life Diagnostics, Inc. and Stearns & Lehman, Inc., unspecified bank stocks, Orange County bonds, and FHLMC, REMICs.
The Panel found that Respondents Bales, MPI, and Patterson engaged in fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, unauthorized trading, and unsuitable investments, and ordered Bales and his employer to pay $637,000.00 as compensatory damages, and additional $637,000.00 as punitive damages, $216,500.00 as attorneys’ fees, and interest of 10% per year until the award was paid.
Since then, Bales enlisted in the US Army, and is accused of killing 16 Afgan civilians and then lighting their corpses on fire. However, FINRA shows his securities registration as inactive.
Guiliano Law Group
Investors suffering losses or damages caused variable annuity switching may be able to recover damages. Our practice is limited to the representation of investors in claims, for fraud in connection with the sale of securities, the sale or recommendation of excessively risky or unsuitable securities, breach of fiduciary duty, and the failure to supervise. We accept representation on a contingent fee basis, meaning there is no cost to you unless we make a recovery for you, and there is never any charge for a consultation or an evaluation of your claim. For more information contact us at (877) SEC-ATTY.
