MetLife Securities Broker Suspended by FINRA for Impersonating Customer for Wire Transfer
Jose Perez, a representative formerly employed with MetLife Securities, Inc. (MetLife), submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he directed his assistant to impersonate his customer, while he impersonated the customer’s brother, in order to effect a transfer of funds. FINRA’s findings state that while employed by MetLife Securities, Jose J. Perez, of Orland Park, Illinois, was advised that his customer was retiring and asked that he transfer pension funds held by a third-party company to her MetLife account. In an attempt to accommodate the customer’s request, Mr. Perez and his assistant telephoned the third-party company and, instead of using their real names, Mr. Perez allegedly impersonated the customer’s brother and his assistant allegedly impersonated the customer. According to FINRA, Mr. Perez and his assistant directed the third-party company to transfer funds to the MetLife account, but failed to realize that the customer held two retirement accounts with the company. Consequently, the funds transferred were funds from the customer’s 401(k) account rather than the pension account.
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