On July 20, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the former registered representative and investment advisor, Michael Barry Carter, with fraud for stealing from brokerage clients and an elderly advisory client. Carter was formerly employed with Morgan Stanley of McLean, Virginia.
The SEC’s complaint against Michael Barry Carter alleges that, from approximately October of 2007 through May of 2019, Carter misappropriated approximately $6 million from brokerage clients and an elderly investment advisory client while he served as their financial advisor. Allegedly, Carter misappropriated approximately $2.5 million in the last five years.
According to the SEC, Michael Barry Carter's victims included people close to him who knew and trusted him. Carter allegedly carried out his scheme by falsifying internal forms to effect approximately 60 unauthorized cash wire transfers from the clients' and client's accounts to his personal bank account at another financial institution. Then, according to the SEC, Carter concealed his fraud from the investors by providing them with fake account statements that he fabricated. Carter then diverted the real account statements and other correspondence to post office boxes that he controlled or to a false email address that he created.
Michael Barry Carter used the funds that he misappropriated from the investors to support his own personal lifestyle, which included hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit card bills, thousands of dollars of cash withdrawals, payments for a home mortgage, and a luxury car.
"As a financial advisor, Carter was entrusted with millions of dollars belonging to his brokerage customers, his advisory clients, and their families," said Marc P. Berger, Director of the SEC's New York Regional Office. "As alleged in our complaint, Carter instead took advantage of that trust for his personal gain."
According to the SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Michael Barry Carter was charged with violations of the antifraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The SEC is seeking injunctive relief, the return of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty.
Additionally, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced criminal charges against Carter. Michael Barry Carter has pled guilty to those charges.
Please see our blog posting from June 24, 2020 below:
https://www.securitieslawyer.com/mike-carter-mclean-virginia/
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, Michael Barry Carter was barred by FINRA in September of 2019. Carter has 9 Disclosures on his CRD report with FINRA. He was in the securities industry for 19 and was listed with 6 firms, the most recent listed below:
2/22/2011 - 08/27/2019 MORGAN STANLEY - MCLEAN, VA
04/29/2011 - 06/02/2011 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC. - VIENNA, VA
If you or an elderly family member experienced financial losses due to the actions or recommendations of the former Morgan Stanley of McLean, Virginia, broker Michael Barry Carter, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer regarding the 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.