Finra bars broker who stole from sick child

Finra has barred a former broker who misappropriated money from several customers, including from a trust fund set up for a child suffering from cerebral palsy. The broker, Ralph Edward Thomas Jr. of Reisterstown, Md., who was most recently with Wells Fargo Advisors, was sentenced to four years in prison last February and ordered to pay $838,000 in restitution. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. announced the bar in its disciplinary disclosures for the month of March. The action against Mr. Thomas was concluded in January. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland alleged that Mr. Thomas stole the money from several customers over a number of years, including $750,000 from the child's trust fund. The trust was funded with proceeds from a $3 million medical-malpractice settlement. That particular fraud began in 2001, when the child's mother visited a bank where Mr. Thomas worked at the time, according to prosecutors. The child's mother transferred the trust account to the bank, which allowed Mr. Thomas to gain control over the funds. Mr. Thomas would disburse about $1,000 to $1,500 of the child's nearly $6,300 monthly annuity payments and then use withdrawal slips already signed by a relative to withdraw money and purchase cashier's checks, payable to personal accounts he held at other banks. Mr. Thomas joined Wells Fargo in February 2004 and was terminated in July 2010, according to Finra. “Wells Fargo Advisors fully cooperated with regulatory and law enforcement officials in the investigation,” said Wells Fargo spokeswoman Rachelle Rowe in an email.