Posted on 04/19/2016 4:00:30 PM PDT by Homer1
I wouldn't trade firms unless I identified the source of the problem.
Agreed, why are you asking this here, There is huge liability here.
First!
Change your name!
Because “Homer1” may be more common than you suspect.
(Sorry.....couldn’t help it)
I have seen a lot of requests for advice over the years here. This one gets some sort of a prize. Just....wow.
The best advice given was by Attention Surplus Disorder, above. Stay away from lawyers for now unless you want to help them buy that new boat.
You gave the firm fiduciary responsibility to handle your account, but they screwed up, probably honestly. If they are reputable firm, they will have good records and will be able to track the entire chain of custody of your account holdings, and their compliance officer will be more than happy to research it incase it is a systematic failure that could ruin the firm.
Keep calm, gather your account statements, and ask the brokerage to give you the phone number and address of their compliance office. When you call the compliance office, explain clearly what the problem is and ask him when you can expect the stock or funds to be returned to your account. He will probably say he will have to get back to you, then ask him when you can expect him to call you back and what the next steps are.
(For about twenty years I helped Wall Street firms and regulators handle transaction issues, but on a much larger scale than this.)
I would think the broker carries Error and Omission Insurance.
This should be easily traceable.
Hopefully it works out soon. It might be wise to notify the brokers main office if he’s an agent for one of the big companies.
Contact the Securities and Exchange Commission and any other governmental agencies which are supposed to oversee brokerage firms and practices that you can think of and let them know what happened - keep copies of the letters to show the broker if he/she doesn’t get the problem cleared up like yesterday....
Unless it was done a few weeks ago and the beneficiaries cashed it out before anybody could figure it out.
Unless the recipients recognized their great fortune and cashed it out ASAP.
You’re wasting time asking on a forum. Lawyer up.
Social security numbers or taxpayer id numbers are tied to the account. Regs for financial institutions require them to obtain your ssn to check for backup withholding.
If they screwed up, they fix it.
To avoid lawyer fees, tell them you are going to report it as theft to the police - either identity theft on the part of the transferee, or “regular” theft on the part of the brokerage.
And ask for 50,000 on top of all that, because that is what they will at least incur in legal fees, and defending their license.
What a mess. I hope it gets straightened out without any loss to you.
Please record that conversation. Then call your lawyer.
And isn’t your social security number affixed to your account?
If a quick resolution isn’t forthcoming—within a matter of days—I’d sue the firm for full recovery and interest, plus lawyer fees, plus damages.
AND I’d sue the heirs who took your money, with your account number, address, and social security number attached in the documentation.
Spoke to them this AM, and they are going to make things whole again...so good all around. Shouldn’t need to lawyer up...
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