The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) filed a regulatory complaint against two former brokers from MetLife Securities Inc, (a unit of MetLife Inc). The brokers, Christopher Birli and Patrick Chapin, who both worked for MetLife in Williamsville, New York, until 2012, allegedly engaged in a seven-year scheme to inflate their commissions by having customers switch $21 million in annuities. FINRA alleged in their March 27th. complaint that Birli and Chapin allegedly focused primarily on advising employees of the State University of New York who participated in its retirement plan. According to FIRNA, their scheme generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions. This alleged scheme subjected investors to unnecessary risks.
FINRA alleges that the two MetLife brokers, between 2004 and 2007, recommended 45 of customers switch MetLife variable annuities which were held in their retirement accounts to new variable annuities held in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) outside the university plan.
According to FINRA's complaint, Birli and Chapin structured the deals in a way to circumvent a MetLife policy that generally prohibited exchanging the two types of variable annuities in the transactions. The brokers advised clients to first cash in their retirement plan annuities and buy another security within the plan to hold for 90 days. Clients would then sell that security to buy a variable annuity through an IRA. The new annuity could tie up the investors' funds for as much as seven years and also some clients had to pay fees to cash in their initial annuities.
According to FINRA's BrokerCheck,
Christopher Birli was previously registered with the following FINRA firm(s):
METLIFE SECURITIES INC. (CRD# 14251) - WILLIAMSVILLE, NY
03/2001 - 04/2012
METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY (CRD# 4095) - WILLIAMSVILLE, NY
03/2001 - 07/2007
Patrick Chapin was previously registered with the following FINRA firm(s):
METLIFE SECURITIES INC. (CRD# 14251) - WILLIAMSVILLE, NY
01/2001 - 04/2012
METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY (CRD# 4095) - WILLIAMSVILLE, NY
01/2001 - 07/2007
NATHAN & LEWIS SECURITIES, INC. (CRD# 8503) - NEW YORK, NY
05/1993 - 02/2001
AETNA INVESTMENT SERVICES, LLC (CRD# 34815) - WINDSOR, CT
10/1993 - 01/2001
AETNA LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITY COMPANY (CRD# 13256) - HARTFORD, CT
08/1993 - 10/1993
COPELAND EQUITIES, INC. (CRD# 7447) - SOMERSET, NJ
09/1991 - 11/1992
GUARDIAN INVESTOR SERVICES CORPORATION (CRD# 6635) - NEW YORK, NY
05/1991 - 09/1991
This ends FINRA's information.
If you or a loved one have experienced investment losses due to your stock broker/financial advisor’s recommendations of annuities, call Soreide Law Group for a free consultation with an attorney on how to potentially recover your losses: 888-760-6552.
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