BHENOY DEMBLA, Formerly With Merrill Lynch Chicago, Barred by FINRA

BHENOY DEMBLA (BEN DEMBLA, B DEMBLA) CRD#: 4357042 has been barred by FINRA from acting as a broker or otherwise associating with a broker-dealer firm on February 5, 2019.
Dembla, formerly with Merrill Lynch of Chicago, without admitting or denying the findings, consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he allegedly entered and later canceled fictitious mutual fund sell orders to circumvent restrictions placed by his member firm and mutual fund providers on the amount of Class B shares an investor can own.
FINRA’s findings stated these fictitious sell orders and subsequent purchases of Class B shares caused the accounts of clients to exceed the accumulation limit by a total of $863,000. The firm subsequently provided $31,801 in restitution to these customers.
According to FINRA’s findings, Dembla caused the firm to maintain inaccurate books and records by making false entries on firm databases as to why the clients wanted to sell Class B shares.
Allegedly, from December of 2015 to April of 2016, BHENOY DEMBLA entered and then canceled 41 false mutual fund sell orders, allegedly to get around the $100,000 cap put in place by Merrill Lynch on the amount of Class B mutual fund shares permissible in a household account.
According to FINRA, B Dembla’s actions caused the accounts of 18 clients to allegedly exceed the limit by a total of $863,000.  FINRA stated that BHENOY DEMBLA allegedly made false entries in Merrill Lynch databases regarding the reasons his clients wanted to sell the Class B shares.
FINRA stated that Merrill Lynch has paid back $31,801 in restitution to their affected clients.
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, BHENOY DEMBLA, has 6 Disclosures on his report.  Of the 6 Disclosures, 4 are “Customer Disputes,” all settled. The significance of Dembla’s FINRA Customer Complaints is underscored in FINRA NOTICE to MEMBERS 03-49. In 2003, FINRA conducted a review of the CRD’s of all 663,000 registered representatives, only 2,751 (.41%) had been the subject of (3) or more customer complaints. In other words Dembla’s customer complaints rank him in the top one-hundredth percent of all registered representatives for customer complaints. 
The settlement amounts, dating back to 2016 were:  $200,000.00, $110,000.00, $167,000.00, and $95,000.00. The clients had alleged unsuitable investments recommendations.
Dembla was discharged from Merrill Lynch in August of 2016 following allegations of “Conduct including circumventing Firm limitations on the accumulation of mutual fund shares in customer accounts resulting in a loss of management's confidence.”
Dembla was registered in the securities industry for 15 years and was listed only with the following firm:
03/26/2001 - 09/15/2016 MERRILL LYNCH,  PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED - CHICAGO, IL
If you were a client of the former Merrill Lynch of Chicago broker, BHENOY DEMBLA, and experienced financial losses due to his actions, recommendations or lack of supervision, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer at no cost regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration at:  888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group works on a contingency fee and represents our clients nationwide before FINRA.