Finra boots star adviser from securities biz

Rhonda Breard, a Kirkland, Wash., investment adviser who has been accused of stealing an estimated $8 million from at least 38 clients, today was permanently barred from the securities industry by Finra. “Finra will continue to use its resources and authority to swiftly remove bad brokers from the securities industry, especially those who steal from their clients,” James S. Shorris, executive vice president and director of enforcement for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., said in a press release. (View Ms. Breard’s Finra records here.) Ms. Breard neither admitted nor denied the charges, Finra said, but “consented to the entry of Finra's findings.” The former adviser who had been licensed to sell securities through ING Financial Partners Inc. since 2002, is facing federal charges, as well as civil lawsuits in her home state, where she had been a minor celebrity, promoting her investment expertise in television infomercials and radio spots. An ING auditor in February discovered that she had been misappropriating client funds during a surprise trip to her offices. According to a Reuters story today, Ms. Breard's attorney Ronald Friedman, of Seattle-based Lane Powell PC, said "These are certainly not happy days for Ms Breard. She is very regretful for her conduct and is seeking to address that conduct."