Finra bars former Bancorp rep for taking almost $106,000 from client

John Douglas Wade 'converted' funds from clients' accounts for his own use.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has barred former U.S. Bancorp Investments broker John Douglas Wade of Buena Park, Calif., for converting more than $200,000 from the clients’ accounts to his own use.

Mr. Wade, who is not now associated with a securities firm, was discharged by his firm in February for “unsatisfactory job performance.” The firm filed an amended Form U5 on May 7, 2018, reporting that it was conducting an internal review because Mr. Wade “allegedly misappropriated client funds.”

According to Finra, Mr. Wade “converted” more than $105,000 from two elderly USBI customers from February 2013 through July 2017, violating Finra rules. Conversion is defined as an intentional and unauthorized taking of and/or exercise of ownership over property by one who neither owns the property nor is entitled to possess it. The practice is not permitted under Finra rules.

During the same period, Mr. Wade electronically transferred without authorization $47,570.47 from a customer’s checking account at a bank affiliated with the firm to Mr. Wade’s own mortgage account. The broker similarly used customer funds in amounts totaling $51,141.71 to pay his own mortgage, and wrote a check in the amount of $7,000 from his checking account (at an affiliated bank), ostensibly to invest in real estate investment trusts.