Bringing Claims Against Morgan Stanley and Justin Amaral for Churning Violations

Today, a 92-year-old widow was awarded more than $1 million in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel ruling against Morgan Stanley and one of its former brokers, Justin Amaral. Amaral was accused of churning in Genevieve Lenehan’s account. Churning is when a broker makes unnecessary trades in a customer account in order to generate large commissions for himself, and it is against securities rules and regulations. Allegedly, Amaral bought and sold closed-end funds and IPOs after the customer’s husband died five years ago. He also allegedly shifted thousands of shares of General Electric that Lenehan had held since World War II, and exchanged annuities by forging the customer’s signature. FINRA ultimately barred him from the industry in June, and he resigned from Morgan Stanley in May 2014 after allegations that he was named executor and beneficiary of another customer’s estate.

Justin Amaral was registered with Morgan Stanley in Boston, Massachusetts from September 2001 until January 2007, Citigroup Global Markets in Boston from January 2007 until June 2009 and Morgan Stanley in Boston from June 2009 until May 2014. According to his FINRA BrokerCheck report, he has two customer disputes against him, one of which is currently pending. He is not licensed within the industry and FINRA has permanently barred him from acting as a broker or investment advisor.

If you lost money with Justin Amaral, you may be able to sue Morgan Stanley in the FINRA arbitration process, because they were responsible for reasonably supervising him while he was employed there. The call to us is free with no obligation and we take cases on a contingency fee basis only, which means we only get paid if you recover money. Please call soon as time is of the essence.