Broker faces sanctions after alleged email fraud: Finra

A broker faces sanctions after she allegedly wired $34,000 from a customer account without approval, and in answer to a fradulent email request, according to Finra.

The regulator ordered that one or more sanctions, including monetary sanctions, be imposed against Corinne Mittag of Omaha, Neb., for the alleged inproprieties.

Ms. Mittag, now with COR Clearing, was a broker at BancWest Investment Services in January 2015 when she received an email requesting that she sell securities in a customer’s account. The sales were for the purpose of generating cash to fund a wire request to a third party in the United Kingdom, according to a Finra Disciplinary Proceeding. Ms. Mittag said she was the victim of a phishing scheme, her Finra BrokerCheck records show.

Going against firm policies that prohibited trade requests received through email and which required wire requests sent to foreign third parties to be confirmed by telephone, Ms. Mittag never obtained authorization from the customer for the sales or approval from her firm.

Finra said that Ms. Mittag, who has been a registered representative since 1996, misled BancWest, saying she had spoken to the customer, who approved the transfer. In February, 2015, the client contacted the firm when the lowered account balance was detected. Ms. Mittag was terminated by BancWest shortly afterward.

Related Topics: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority