Former broker barred for bilking elderly client
Kelly Clayton Althar allegedly generated $91K in commissions from elderly client with $308K in assets
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. on Friday barred a former independent broker who allegedly generated $91,000 in commission in the retirement account of an elderly client who had a total of $308,000 in investible assets when she started investing with the rep.
The broker, Kelly Clayton Althar, was registered with Financial West Group from 2011 to 2015, according to his Finra BrokerCheck profile.
Last month, Finra filed a complaint against Mr. Althar, claiming he had made unsuitable recommendations and engaged in excessive trading in two accounts held by an elderly customer.
In the Finra order from last week, Mr. Althar neither admitted nor denied to the allegations of the complaint.
Mr. Althar “engaged in high volume trading to generate commissions and over concentrated [the client’s] accounts in risky securities, despite the fact that [the client] was close to retirement and wanted only low risk investments,” according to the Finra order. His trading “decimated [his client’s] accounts, which constituted the bulk of her net worth and retirement savings.”
The president of Financial West Group, Michael De Luz, did not return calls to comment. Mr. Althar could not be reached by phone and did not respond to questions on LinkedIn.
Between April 2011 and March 2014, Mr. Althar often purchased, sold and subsequently repurchased the same security in the client’s accounts within a short period of time, according to Finra. In December 2012, he purchased almost 700 shares of a listed real estate investment trust and then sold the shares at a $261 loss two months later.
After two months, he re-purchased close to 800 shares of the same REIT and then sold those shares six weeks later for a loss of more than $8,100. According to Finra, Mr. Althar generated over $3,000 in commissions on those trades of the REIT.
He also over-concentrated his client’s accounts in risky securities, buying securities in one business development company until that position represented about 60% of the client’s total portfolio value, according to Finra. Mr. Althar’s trading created $187,000 in losses in the client’s two accounts, one of which was an IRA, according to Finra.
(See: Former Wells Fargo Advisors rep barred by Finra for excessive trading in elderly client’s account.)
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