FINRA Sanctions Former IFP Securities Rep for Customer Impersonation
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority sanctioned Chad M. Rogers, a former licensed representative with Oklahoma City-based IFP Securities, for impersonating customers during phone calls. Rogers accepted and consented to FINRA’s findings without admitting or denying them, leading to a 45-day suspension from associating with any FINRA member in all capacities and a $5,000 fine.
According to FINRA’s letter of acceptance, waiver, and consent, between August 2022 and June 2023, while associated with IFP, Rogers impersonated 14 customers during 22 phone calls to his prior firm. The purpose of these impersonations was to facilitate the transfer of his customers’ accounts to IFP or, in some instances, to transfer funds to their bank accounts. Although the customers had consented to the account or fund transfers, they did not authorize Rogers to impersonate them during these calls. This conduct was found to be in violation of FINRA Rule 2010, which requires associated persons to “observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade.”
Rogers first registered with FINRA in June 2002. He became registered with IFP in June 2022. The firm terminated Rogers on Sept. 15, 2023, disclosing his termination after the firm was “notified by [a] third party that [Rogers] impersonated client(s) with personal information via phone call.”
This was not Rogers’ first disciplinary action. In November 2017, the Oklahoma Department of Securities censured him and imposed a $1,000 civil penalty for failing to timely amend his Form U4 to disclose five liens. More recently, in May 2024, in connection with the facts of the FINRA letter, the Oklahoma department issued an order imposing a $5,000 fine and suspending Rogers’ registration with the State of Oklahoma for nine months.
As a result of FINRA’s sanctions, Rogers will be suspended from associating with any FINRA member in all capacities for 45 days and must pay a $5,000 fine. The fine is due and payable either immediately upon reassociation with a member firm or prior to any application or request for relief from any statutory disqualification.
Rogers is not currently licensed with FINRA, but has been a registered investment adviser with Merit Advisors since July 2024.
In other recent FINRA news, AltsWire reported that an arbitration panel ordered Merrill Lynch to pay nearly $3.6 million to two retail clients whose private-equity feeder-fund investments performed far below expectations and broad-market benchmarks due to what their attorney labeled as “layers of fees.”
Click here to visit the AltsWire directory page.
