Finra bars former Wells Fargo broker in Florida

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. on Tuesday barred a former Wells Fargo Advisors broker who allegedly manipulated a client's account to retain his special status at the firm as an international financial adviser, according to the Finra order. The broker, Wilfred Rodriguez Jr., was with Wells Fargo and predecessor firms for 15 years before Wells fired him on Aug. 1, according to Finra. On his termination notice, known as a Form U5, Wells Fargo disclosed that Mr. Rodriguez had been fired because, "with the permission of the customer, [he] moved funds between customer's related accounts in order to place authorized bond orders for the purposes of generating qualifying revenue so that [he] could retain his international financial adviser status," according to Finra. His BrokerCheck report shows Mr. Rodriguez worked in Boca Raton, Fla., for Wells Fargo. As part of the settlement, Mr. Rodriguez neither admitted to nor denied Finra's findings. His attorney, Joshua Lida, declined to comment. Finra staff conducted its investigation into allegations that Mr. Rodriguez, among other things, "converted customers' funds and concealed it by falsifying account documents with inflated account values," the Finra order said. "During the investigation, [he] failed to produce documents and information requested by Finra staff," putting him in violation of industry rules, according to Finra.