"FINRA Officially Frowns On Financial Advisers Posing As Rivals And Looking For Sex On Craigslist"

From DealBreaker:

We knew the competitive world of rural Northern Californian financial advisers could get rough and tumble, but this seems like a little much…

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. is suspending and fining Paul Betenbaugh, a former registered representative with Edward Jones, for impersonating a competing adviser and using that adviser’s information to create explicit internet ads seeking sexual encounters with men.

Wow. How did this kick off?

The Sacramento Bee reports that the story began in December 2014, when Mr. Gunderson was fired from Edward Jones for violating company policy around confirming trades with clients who gave instructions to a nonregistered branch office administrator. Edward Jones replaced him with Ms. Rodriguez, who was recruited and mentored by Mr. Betenbaugh. 

Mr. Gunderson set up his own firm half a mile away, but was not allowed to contact his former clients because of a pre-employment noncompete agreement with Edward Jones. Mr. Gunderson alleges in his lawsuit that Ms. Rodriguez and Mr. Betenbaugh placed a newspaper ad taunting Mr. Gunderson with the headline, “Is Your Broker Giving You the Cold Shoulder?” 

Some clients left to join Mr. Gundersen’s new firm, and one filed a complaint letter with Edward Jones regarding Ms. Rodriguez. Ms. Rodriguez believed the complaint was actually written by Mr. Gundersen, and Mr. Betenbaugh decided to retaliate on behalf of his friend. 

“Because of my anger at what happened to Lisa, and without Lisa’s knowledge, I took actions which were not honorable, and determined to place a post on … Craigslist which would annoy Mr. Gundersen,” Mr. Betenbaugh said in his declaration.

Ah, so the whole thing was just an innocent prank gone awry. It’s not like anything really bad happened…MORE