Page 38 - Investment Advisor December 2022/January 2023

COVER STORY

tigated and have taken action. This individual” — James A financial advisor whose affiliation with LPL Financial ended
Iannazzo of Fairfield, “is no longer employed at our firm.” last year over allegations of the advisor’s racist hiring practices
The Fairfield Police Department’s investigation revealed said in August that she is suing the broker-dealer, accusing it
that Iannazzo made a purchase at Robeks and left the store of a breach of contract. Due to LPL’s “wrongful acts,” Eileen
without incident, but later called 911 requesting an EMS Cure — now an advisor with RIA Wealth Management of
response to his home and said his son Kentucky — has been able to “retain only a small fraction of
was suffering from an allergic reac- her book of business, representing a loss” of $45 million to $50
tion. The son was transported to million, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District
a hospital. Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Beaumont.
Shortly after that, Iannazzo Cure is requesting $10 million for damage to her reputation in
returned to the smoothie shop the financial industry, $20 million for loss of income incurred as a
and “confronted employees, direct result of LPL’s actions to date and in the future, $50 million
yelling at them and demanding to for loss of income associated with LPL’s tortious interference, and
know who had made the smoothie $15 million in damages associated with professional defamation.
which contained peanuts, causing In the suit, she is also seeking unspeci-
his child’s allergic reaction,” FPD said. fied, “reasonable and necessary”
Iannazzo left the store before police arrived but was attorneys’ fees and costs, as well as
soon identified, according to FPD, noting he turned him- pre- and post-judgment interest.
self into police without incident. Iannazzo told police he A year ago, LPL said it was “deeply
was upset about his son having a severe allergic reaction. concerned by the statements attrib-
During the investigation, however, employees reported uted to” Cure after videos posted
Iannazzo never told them about his son’s peanut allergy on TikTok and shared across social
and had only requested there be no peanut butter in his media sites alleged that she told her
drink, according to FPD. staff she didn’t want to interview Black
Iannazzo was arrested and charged with intimidation based applicants for an open position at her office.
on bigotry or bias in the second degree, breach of peace in the The allegation of Cure being “racist was thrust into the
second degree and criminal trespass in the first degree. national news” by LPL and the comments it made about her, her
complaint stated. Cure also claimed that “false information” was
published about LPL conducting an investigation that concluded
Morgan Stanley terminated a 90-year-old broker in July, a day she was a racist who engaged in illegal hiring practices.
after he was arrested on suspicion of shooting his business
partner, according to Oklahoma County Detention Center
and Oklahoma City Police Department documents. Leonard The former Parkland Securities broker who was charged with
David Bernstein allegedly entered his firm’s office building murdering a client in 2020 while he was already under investi-
on Waterford Boulevard in Oklahoma City and shot Chris gation for a Ponzi scheme was found guilty in October of mul-
Bayouth, 61, several times with a handgun, according to police. tiple federal crimes, according to court documents and Eastern
Bernstein was released on $50,000 bail, according District of Texas U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston.
to the Oklahoma City jail blotter. An initial crimi- Keith Todd Ashley, 50, of Allen, Texas, was
nal complaint was filed against in the Oklahoma found guilty by a jury of wire fraud, mail fraud,
County District Court, saying there was prob- bank fraud and carrying a firearm in relation to
able cause to charge him with shooting with a crime of violence. The verdict was reached
intent to kill, a felony. Judge Kevin C. McCray after a week-long trial before Judge Amos L.
was assigned the case. Mazzant in U.S. District Court for the Eastern
Bernstein and Bayouth had been partners District of Texas in Sherman.
for nine months, according to a probable cause Ashley was a registered nurse who also began
affidavit. “Mr. Bernstein’s health has declined, and working as an advisor and life insurance agent.
he decided to hand over his managed accounts to the According to information presented at his trial, starting
victim,” it said. in 2016, he began stealing money from his clients. He promised
According to an incident report, Oklahoma City Police his clients he would invest their money in financial products but
Officer Travis Ratcliffe responded to an assault with a deadly instead used the funds to pay other clients, to keep his struggling
weapon at Morgan Stanley’s office building. “The call notes brewery in business, to pay his personal bills and to fund a lavish
stated the calling party said his coworker shot him multiple lifestyle, according to Featherston and court documents.
times,” Ratcliffe reported. —Janet Levaux contributed to this report

36 INVESTMENT ADVISOR DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023 | ThinkAdvisor.com