Former Morgan Stanley Advisor Barred After Fraudulent Check Allegations
From the desk of Jim Eccleston at ÍøÆسԹÏ
Roger A. Gallagher has accepted an industry bar from FINRA rather than cooperate with a regulatory investigation. According to a FINRA Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent letter (“AWC”).
AdvisorHub reports that FINRA began investigating Gallagher after receiving a tip about a criminal indictment against him. Federal prosecutors in Miami charged him with mail fraud, alleging he sent a fraudulent $200,000 check to a car dealership in April 2023 to purchase a Porsche SUV. Gallagher later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of making a false statement to a federal agency.
Gallagher had argued that he had no intent to defraud the dealership. He claimed the check contained "contradictory language" on the back, which created uncertainty about the payee and invalidated the check. He further asserted that he asked the dealership to confirm whether the check cleared and later attempted to arrange an alternative payment, according to AdvisorHub.
Morgan Stanley terminated Gallagher, citing his involvement in undisclosed financial arrangements with a third-party service provider. Gallagher had been with the firm since 2012 and was part of a San Francisco-based group managing $838 million in client assets, according to a 2024 Forbes ranking.
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