Prudential Fined for Authorizing Fraudulent Annuity Withdrawals
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Prudential Annuities Distributors $950,000 on Tuesday for failing to prevent the fraudulent withdrawal of nearly $1.3 million from an elderly annuity holder’s account by her financial officer, according to a Reuters report.
Financial sales assistant Travis Wetzel was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering in 2015 and sentenced to 42 months in prison for forging annuity withdrawal requests on his 82-year-old client’s account.
“In its decision, FINRA said Prudential’s internal systems flagged 114 fraudulent withdrawals — up to five a month — that Wetzel made between July 2010 and September 2012 to wire money from the client’s account to one in his wife’s name,” reports Elizabeth Dilts.