Martin John Maloney (A.K.A. Marty Maloney, and Martin J. Maloney), previously associated with MetLife Securities Inc. at 150 Essjay Rd., in Williamsville, NY 14221, was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity in October of 2013 for converting $220,000 of a MetLife customer’s money. Marty Maloney led a customer and his wife to believe that he would be investing money into various business ventures, but instead transferred over two-hundred thousand dollars into his own personal account.
Conversion is “any unauthorized act which deprives an owner of his property permanently or for an indefinite time.” By Converting a MetLife customer’s money for personal use, Mr. Maloney violated NASD Rule 2110, which requires that “all members, in the conduct of business, observe high standards of commercial honor and just equitable principles of trade.”
Martin J. Maloney was associated with MetLife from March 1990 until February 2012. In a Form U5 dated February 9, 2012, the Firm reported that Maloney resigned while under investigation for, among other things, improperly accepting money from a customer. While Maloney is no longer associated with a FINRA regulated broker-dealer, he still holds his Series 6, Series 7, Series 26, and Series 63 licenses. He remains subject to FINRA’s jurisdiction until February 7, 2014. in October of 2013, Mr. Maloney consented to FINRA’s sanctions by submitting a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted.
According to FINRA’s Findings
“JL and his wife became Maloney’s customers at MetLife in the early 1990’s. Around March 2008, Mr. Maloney instructed JL to liquidate certain accounts from MetLife and give him the funds. Maloney falsely represented to JL that he would be investing the money for JL in various business ventures. Maloney never invested that money for JL, and JL never received any interest payments or return of principal relating to the funds. Instead, Martin J. Maloney converted the money for his own use and benefit.”
Specifically, on March 28, 2008, per Maloney’s instructions, JL wrote himself a check from his MetLife account for $220,000, which he deposited into his personal bank checking account. Then, also per Maloney’s instruction, JL wrote three checks from his personal checking account to Maloney, totaling $220,000. Maloney falsely represented that the money would be invested in an indoor golf and driving range. However, Maloney never invested the money into this, or any other, investment. JL never received any documentation of his investment.
As FINRA has specified, Maloney was under investigation for “other things,” one of which was improperly accepting money from a customer. This means there may be much more than meets the eye with this situation. It took FINRA over four years to uncover what may have been a decade long scam that Martin Maloney pulled on an unsuspecting customer. This may just be the tip of the iceberg, and it is unclear how many other similar “various business ventures” Maloney pitched to MetLife clients. If you had investments with Martin Maloney, or a MetLife branch in either Williamsville, New York or Rochester, New York, your investment accounts should be reviewed by a professional to determine if they have been affected by Mr. Maloney’s falsely represented investments.
Firm’s Duty to Supervise
MetLife Securities has a duty to establish an adequate supervisory system to monitor and prevent their brokers’ attempts to improperly accept money from customers and/or invest them into unsuitable securities. Had they followed through with this duty, Maloney’s actions might have been noticed almost immediately and the customer’s loss of $220,000 may have been prevented. Unfortunately, MetLife has a history of financial misconduct by the firm and its brokers. (See: $5 million fine for inaccurate, misleading information). They have also been fined in the past by the NASD (FINRA’s predecessor) for failure to supervise. (See: $500,000 for failing to establish systems and procedures to supervise the sales of 529 College Savings Plans, and $1.2 Million fine for failure to supervise email correspondence with the public).
NOTE: For your own safety, please remember that any time anyone asks you to write them a personal check for investment, it should set off a HUGE red flag! Most financial services firms will not accept personal checks made out to their representatives or brokers for investment, let alone ask you to withdraw money from existing accounts currently held with their firm in order to re-invest it in an outside-investment opportunity.
Guiliano Law Group
Our Practice is limited to the representation of investors in claims against stockbrokers and investment professionals for fraud, the sale of unsuitable investments, breach of fiduciary duty, failure to supervise. National Practice. Contingent Fee. Free Consultation. If you have suffered losses a the result of the recommendation of inverse and leveraged ETFs by your stockbroker or investment professional and were unaware of the risk associated with these securities, contact us for a free confidential evaluation at (877) SEC-ATTY.
