South Florida investment advisor fined $110K, banned by regulators

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Brian Bandell

Senior Reporter- South Florida Business Journal

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A Palm Beach Gardens investment advisor and broker was fined $110,000 by state regulators and banned from working in the financial industry in Florida.

Ralph Oelbermann, who formerly worked for LPL Financial, didn't respond to the administrative complaint by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation and a servicer wasn't able to locate him. His employer terminated him after customers complained of unauthorized trading in their accounts, according to OFR.

Oelbermann had 15 accounts in which he conducted trades but 12 of them were not funded by clients, according to OFR. In these non-funded accounts, he would purchase securities near the end of the month and then sell all of it within 15 days. This generated $23,200 in commissions for him.

OFR contacted five individuals who held non-funded accounts and they said the contact information Oelbermann associated with their accounts was out of date and that they didn't authorize him to open these accounts and weren't aware of his trading activity.

OFR said his activity caused losses for LPL because of the improper commissions.

Brian Bandell covers banking, finance, health care and education. Get the latest banking news with our free daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe.