Bart Ellis pleads guilty to defrauding clients
In July, 2017 former Ameriprise Financial broker Bart Ellis plead guilty to money laundering and defrauding his clients in a case involving over one million dollars.
Ellis will be sentenced on October 2 where he faces up to 10 years in prison for his crimes.
The case involving the fraud was uncovered by the IRS during an investigation. According to prosecutors Ellis used client funds for personal uses, and not to make investments on behalf of the clients.
The criminal case follows on a history of problems Ellis had while at Ameriprise including improperly exercising discretion in client accounts. Ameriprise discharged Ellis in October, 2012 with allegations pending that he made unauthorized trades in a client account. FINRA followed on in 2014 with a regulatory action that accused Ellis of making unauthorized trades then doctoring telephone logs to make it appear as if he had spoken with the client beforehand. Ellis was barred from the industry as a result of that FINRA complaint.
Registration and disciplinary history
In order to lawfully sell investments to the public, a registered rep must either be registered or exempt from registration. Bart Ellis was registered with Ameriprise Financial from November, 2007 to October, 2012.
According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, Bart Ellis has been the subject of five customer complaints and one regulatory investigation.
The Law Office of David Liebrader practices exclusively in the field of investment loss recovery. For the past 23 years, we have dedicated our law practice to assisting investors who have been victims of investment fraud via fraudulent and unsuitable investment transactions. During that time we have recovered money for over one thousand individuals, pension plans, trusts and companies. The recoveries we have obtained via judgments, awards and settlements on behalf of our clients exceed $40,000,000.
When investors contact our firm they can expect prompt attention, and a detailed analysis of their issues. Typical claims that we are asked to review involve “unsuitability (where a financial advisor makes investment recommendations that are inconsistent with a customer’s investment objectives), claims for “churning” (where a broker enters into an excessive number of trades for the purpose of generating commissions), claims involving illiquid investments such as private placements (I.e., real estate investment trusts, limited partnerships, equipment leasing and oil and gas drilling programs) as well as claims for violations of state securities laws, which often provide investors remedies like attorney’s fees and interest, if they are successful on the claim.
If you suspect that you have been the victim of investment fraud, or had a financial advisor recommend unsuitable investments to you, call us today for a free, confidential consultation at (702) 380-3131.