ING Stockbroker Barred from Securities Industry

FINRA has barred former ING Financial Advisers, LLC stockbroker Bruce Martin Harada from assocaiting with any FINRA member brokerage firm. Harada, who worked out of Honolulu, Hawaii, agreed to accept FINRA's punishment after FINRA found that Harada had convinced some of his customers to withdraw funds from their securities accounts and write personal checks payable to him. Harada represented that he would invest the money in the "ING Personal Asset Management" product, which did not exist. Instead of investing the money for his customers, Harada stole at least $792,612. Harada's outright misrepresentations and theft are among the worst forms of securities fraud and stockbroker misconduct. Investors should be very careful about accepting investment advice without making sure that the recommended investment even exists. Investors who lost their money have the right to pursue FINRA arbitration claims against ING to recover their stolen money.