SEC bars ex-Transamerica broker who took $583,000 from clients

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday barred a former Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. broker who was charged last summer by the U.S. Attorney's office with securities and bank fraud in taking $583,000 from his clients. The broker, Pedro L. Gonzalez-Seijo, 66, is based in San Juan Puerto Rico and from 1991 to 2016 he was registered with Transamerica Financial Advisors. In January, he pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud, according to the SEC. The federal indictment alleged that from May 2013 to June 2016, Mr. Gonzalez-Seijo, an independent insurance agent who sold variable annuities and other products, took client funds by depositing into his account client money intended to be deposited into insurance accounts. He also obtained client money by making unauthorized withdrawals from his clients' accounts; and took funds that clients had authorized to be withdrawn to transfer the funds into a different product, according to the SEC. Mr. Gonzalez-Seijo did not return a call on Monday to comment. A Transamerica spokesman, Hank Williams, also did not return a call to comment. A chunk of Transamerica Financial Advisors was sold in 2016 to John Hancock Financial Network. That group's broker-dealer, Signator Investors Inc., was then sold last year to Advisor Group.