Robert Bales, the U.S. soldier recently accused of brutally slaughtering 17 Afghan civilians, was a registered rep from 1998 to 2000, and did not exactly come away with a clean record. (Big surprise.)
According to Bales’ FINRA filing, he had to pay out $637,000 in punitive damages for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, unauthorized trading and unsuitable investments, an arbitration panel found. The panel also found his conduct “to be fraudulent and malicious.” This was during his time at Quantum Securities Corporation.
The FINRA claim was filed by Gary Liebschner, one of Bales’ clients, and involved the stocks of Life Diagnostics, Stearns & Lehman, unspecified bank stocks, Orange County bonds, and Freddie Mac Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits (REMICs).
I don't think it's any coincidence that Bales bailed out of the industry around this time. But of course, that’s just speculation.
Prior to Quantum Securities, he had short stints at Capital Securities of America, which is now Wunderlich Securities; and Michael Patterson.
As of now, Bales is being held at a military base in Kansas, awaiting a full military investigation, according to published reports. He has refused to have his mental state examined by the military.