After an Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) hearing panel accepted a settlement agreement with Mohammad Movassaghi, fining Movassaghi $27,000 back in July 2017, the mutual fund division of the regulator, now known and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) is sanctioning the representative again, this time on behalf of the mutual fund industry.
Movassaghi is permanently banned from conducting securities-related business and has been fined $70,000 for falsifying a client’s signature on nine account forms, for instructing another approved person to update that client’s account records without the client’s authorization and for processing or instructing others to process more than 180 trades in the client’s accounts without authorization. He is also being sanctioned for creating and directing another approved person to create fictitious instruction records and for failing to disclose conflicts of interest to his firms.
Where the IIROC decision is related to Movassaghi’s actions as a representative with Harbourfront Wealth Management Inc., the most recent sanctions would appear to be for his actions and conduct which occurred while he was a representative with Investors Group Financial Services Inc. Although Movassaghi disclosed that he was a landlord, he was required to inform the firm before opening accounts for any tenants, which he did not do. More, when he moved to Harbourfront, he executed the false signatures for the client in question to move her investments to the new firm without her knowledge or authorization.
“After discovering that her investments had been transferred to Harbourfront, client KO arranged to transfer the investments back to the member. In response to client KO’s complaints about forged account documentation and unauthorized trading in her accounts, the member paid more than $22,000 in compensation,” the reasons for decision states.
In addition to the permanent ban from registration and $70,000 fine, Movassaghi was also ordered to pay costs in the amount of $45,000.
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