A Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) hearing panel has fined a former advisor $155,000 and permanently prohibited her from the participating in the securities industry for infractions that include unauthorized redemptions from client accounts and hindering investigations into her conduct.
Rupinder Bhathal of Abbotsford, B.C. has also been ordered to pay costs in the amount of $10,000 for the multiple infractions that occurred between 2009 and 2015, according to the hearing panel’s findings, which were released on Friday.
Bhathal was employed by Sun Life Financial Investment Services (Canada) Inc. as a dealing representative during most of this time, but was terminated on Feb. 12, 2014 as a result of the events in question. She was also a licensed as an insurance advisor by the Insurance Council of British Columbia between 2005 and 2014.
Bhathal was found to have made redemptions and misappropriated funds from the registered education savings plan accounts of two clients, referred to as “GG” and “TP,” without their knowledge. Approximately $15,000 was redeemed from GG’s account and about $9,500 was taken from TP’s account. In both cases, Bhathal attempted to conceal her actions by making unauthorized withdrawals from accounts that belonged to her insurance clients and providing those funds to GG and TP.
The hearing panel also concluded that Bhathal falsified GG’s signature on at least three account forms and used two blank pre-signed forms in order to process redemptions in that same client’s account.
Bhathal was also taken to task for making false statements to her employer, Sun Life, during the firm’s investigation into her actions in February 2014. In particular, she told the firm that TP had instructed her to process the redemptions in question and that the proceeds had been deposited into TP’s bank account.
Bhathal failed to co-operate with MFDA staff’s investigation into the allegations. Although Bhathal initially agreed to speak with MFDA staff when the investigation began in January 2015, she backed out mere days before her interview about the matter in the spring of that year. In June 2015, Bhathal’s lawyer communicated to MFDA staff that Bhathal was not willing to attend an interview.
“As a result of the respondent’s failure to attend an interview, staff has been unable to determine the full nature and extent of the respondent’s misconduct,” the hearing panel’s notice document states.
The MFDA hearing panel also acknowledged the ICBC’s decision in 2014 that Bhathal was “unsuitable to hold an insurance licence” as a result of various actions. These include forging a client’s signature on more than one occasion and processing insurance applications contrary to clients’ instructions and without their consent.
Bhathal is no longer registered in the securities industry in any capacity.
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