FINRA Bars Fromer Merrill Lynch Advisor Over Relationship with Elderly Client
From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has barred Imdadur “Gino” Rahman, a former Merrill Lynch advisor for multiple compliance violations involving his relationship with an elderly client.
AdvisorHub reports that FINRA's investigation revealed that from December 2021 to August 2022, Rahman facilitated the nearly 80-year-old customer’s designation of Rahman’s wife as the beneficiary for two Merrill accounts. To bypass Merrill's prohibition against advisors or their family members serving as beneficiaries, Rahman falsely identified his wife as the customer's niece.
In addition to this violation, Rahman engaged in unapproved outside business activities from December 2021 to July 2023. He received $116,000 for services provided to the customer, such as buying furniture, and groceries, and driving the customer to appointments. Rahman instructed the customer to write checks to his wife, as he could not receive payments directly.
As reported by AdvisorHub, from August 2022 to July 2023, Rahman accepted monetary gifts totaling more than $47,000 from the customer to pay his outstanding bills. He failed to disclose these gifts to Merrill and falsely stated on compliance questionnaires that he had not received unreported gifts.
Rahman's actions violated FINRA Rule 2010, which mandates brokers to act with "high standards." Although the customer did not file a complaint, and Rahman’s BrokerCheck record shows no disputes, FINRA’s investigation stemmed from Merrill’s U5 filing. Rahman accepted the bar without admitting or denying the findings. Merrill terminated him in October 2023 over similar allegations.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.
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