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Enforcement Actions
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
CASES OF NOTE
2010
NOTE: Stipulations of Fact and Consent to Penalty (SFC); Offers of Settlement (OS); and Letters of Acceptance Waiver, and Consent (AWC) are entered into by Respondents without admitting or denying the allegations, but consent is given to the described sanctions & to the entry of findings. Additionally, for AWCs, if FINRA has reason to believe a violation has occurred and the member or associated person does not dispute the violation, FINRA may prepare and request that the member or associated person execute a letter accepting a finding of violation, consenting to the imposition of sanctions, and agreeing to waive such member's or associated person's right to a hearing before a hearing panel, and any right of appeal to the National Adjudicatory Council, the SEC, and the courts, or to otherwise challenge the validity of the letter, if the letter is accepted. The letter shall describe the act or practice engaged in or omitted, the rule, regulation, or statutory provision violated, and the sanction or sanctions to be imposed.
November 2010
Gregory Arthur Niebler
OS/2007009405201/November 2010

Niebler received approximately $358,000 from an elderly customer, for whom he was appointed power of attorney, in the form of personal checks written directly to him or his credit card companies to pay down his credit card debt; at least $172,900 of that amount was received after the customer had been diagnosed as incompetent and suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Niebler invoked his power of attorney to sign the customer’s name to certain of the checks. Niebler falsely denied to his firm on compliance questionnaires that he had received any gifts valued in excess of $100 from any of his customers when he was receiving substantial amounts of money from the customer’s bank account, and failed to report that he had obtained the customer’s power of attorney to his firm. In effecting the transfer of funds from the customer to himself or his credit card company, Niebler acted contrary to his duty as a power of attorney, in that he failed to act in the customer’s best interest and did not have the customer’s explicit written authorization to transfer money to himself.

Gregory Arthur Niebler : Barred
Tags:  Elderly    Power Of Attorney     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Bill Singer's Comment

$172,900 of that amount was received after the customer had been diagnosed as incompetent and suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease

You ever wonder how some folks sleep at night?

Ronald Gabriel Klebba
AWC/2008014974201/November 2010

Klebba financially exploited elderly women by convincing them to grant him general power-of- attorney and to sign a document waiving any conflict of interest that Klebba might have. Klebba also had the elderly women name him as

  • beneficiary on assets,
  • a joint owner on bank accounts,
  • joint tenant on a warranty deed for real estate.

Klebba also had the elderly women give him a $50,000 gift from the proceeds of the sale of a condominium.

Klebba’s acts directly violated his employer’s rules prohibiting registered representatives from being the beneficiary of a contract policy or from accepting a grant of power-of-attorney from customers.

Ronald Gabriel Klebba : Barred
Tags:  Elderly    Power Of Attorney     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Bill Singer's Comment
Trust me -- not as rare a fact pattern as you would thing, or as we would all like to believe.  In fact, I'll bet you that some of the elderly women still think that this is a nice young boy and didn't want to complain for fear of costing him his job. 
May 2010
Alvin Charles Ramsey
AWC/2008015421501/May 2010

Ramsey served as a registered representative for an elderly customer who executed a power of attorney, giving Ramsey broad authority over her financial affairs. The customer asked Ramsey to invest $600,000 in a variable annuity, and then, without the customer’s knowledge or authorization, Ramsey used the power of attorney to obtain approximately $482,000 in withdrawals from the annuity, which, after taxes were deducted, totaled approximately $373,750. Checks for $373,750 were issued in the customer’s name and sent to Ramsey’s office. Ramsey deposited some of the money into the customer’s checking account, but converted some of the funds for his personal use without the customer’s knowledge or authorization. 

Separately, Ramsey borrowed $275,000 from the customer and, in total, owes the customer approximately $500,000.

Ramsey failed to appear to provide testimony.

Alvin Charles Ramsey: Barred
Tags:  Elderly    Power of Attorney    Check    Borrowing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Bill Singer's Comment
What a real classy piece of work this guy is.
January 2010
Michael Gerald Delano III
AWC/2008013543001/January 2010
Delano was given the power of attorney over a deceased friend’s estate by the deceased’s brother and was requested to handle the $50,000 in life insurance proceeds. Delano deposited the funds into his personal bank account and used the majority of the funds for his personal expenses without the brother’s consent. Delano represented to the brother that he had invested the life insurance proceeds into an annuity on the brother’s behalf.
Michael Gerald Delano III: Barred
Tags:  Power of Attorney    Deceased    Estate         |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Bill Singer's Comment
Talk about inviting bad Karma.  Wow -- ripping off the dead and then lying about it. 
Enforcement Actions
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