Jason Brooks Head, formerly associated with Morgan Stanley in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has been barred from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity because he misappropriated customer funds. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent No. 2024081567201 (January 15, 2015).
According to the AWC, between July 2020 and November 2023, Head converted more than $498,000 from two customers’ accounts for personal use, violating FINRA Rules 2150(a) and 2010.
FINRA found that he conducted unauthorized transfers, including wiring funds and initiating Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions from the victims’ accounts to his personal accounts. The customers were unaware of these transactions and had not given authorization. In one instance, Head falsely represented an opportunity to invest in an initial public offering, inducing the customer to transfer $80,000, which he subsequently misappropriated.
This regulatory action followed Morgan Stanley’s amendment of Head’s Form U5 on March 13, 2024, after he voluntarily resigned on January 5, 2024. The securities broker dealer reported a customer complaint alleging unauthorized withdrawals from a liquidity access line.
In addition to the regulatory action, Public Disclosure shows that Head faces a pending federal criminal charge for bank embezzlement in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (Western), Docket No. 7:24-cr-00400-ACA-SGC-1. The charge, filed on September 26, 2024, involves one felony count, to which he has entered a plea of not guilty. If convicted, Head may face fines and potential incarceration. This criminal proceeding is ongoing, and no trial date has been publicly disclosed. The allegations in the criminal case parallel those in the FINRA investigation.
FINRA Public Disclosure also shows that two customer initiated investment related complaints remain pending against Head. The first, filed on September 25, 2024, alleged that funds were misappropriated from the customer’s account while Head was associated with Morgan Stanley. The securities broker dealer has not disclosed a specified damages amount. The second complaint, received on February 12, 2024, involves allegations that the customer did not authorize activity related to a liquidity access line between 2021 and 2024. This complaint also remains unresolved, with no specified damages reported. Neither case has reached arbitration or resulted in settlement agreements as of this report.
Head was most recently associated with Morgan Stanley from August 23, 2019, to January 10, 2024. Prior to that, he was associated with BBVA Securities Inc. in Northport, Alabama, from May 16, 2013, to August 23, 2019.
