Debbie Michelle Saleh of Calabasas, CA, formerly of Wedbush Morgan Securities

In April 2009, Debbie Michelle Saleh was terminated as registered representative Wedbush Morgan Securities in Woodland Hills, CA, where she had been employed since 2004.  Wedbush Morgan claim Saleh’s fraudulent and dishonest behavior cost the firm and its clients over $850,000 in damages—Saleh was ordered to repay $400,000.

The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) is investigating Saleh for multiple rule violations dating back to 2001. Former clients have alleged that Saleh would provide false customer signatures and misinform clients in order to transact more annuities than were suitable, then charge excessive broker fees for those transactions. Saleh would then, according to NASD’s disciplinary report, falsify clients’ portfolio statements to omit both the annuity transactions and broker fees, and make the value of its investments appear larger than in reality. It was also alleged that Saleh performed a number of transactions without any knowledge or consent from clients.

Prior to working for Wedbush Morgan, Saleh was a registered representative of Wachovia Securities, LLC in Woodland Hills, from June 2002 to October 2004. Before that she worked at First Union Securities, Inc. in Woodland Hills from August 2001 to June 2002, and Paine Webber Inc. from January 1994 to August 2001.

We are currently investigating Ms. Saleh. If you or an organization have entrusted your money to Ms. Saleh, we would like to hear from you.


FURTHER READING

In April 2009 Debbie Michelle Saleh was terminated from her most recent employer, after numerous customer complaints and alleged rule violations. FINRA issued the following report regarding prior disciplinary actions related to Debbie Michelle Saleh:

Debbie Michelle Saleh (CRD #2454630, Registered Representative, Calabasas,
California) was named as a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that she made recommendations to customers without reasonable grounds for believing that the recommendations and resultant transactions were suitable for the customers on the basis of information she knew about their other security holdings and their financial situations and needs, including but not limited to, undue concentration and risk of loss of principal. The complaint alleges that Saleh recommended and caused customers to liquidate variable annuities in whole or in part and to purchase other variable annuities, and made the recommendations without having reasonable grounds for believing them to be suitable. The complaint also alleges that Saleh, without the customers’ knowledge, authorization or consent, placed, or caused to be placed, false customer signatures on variable annuities documents requiring signatures and placed, or caused to be placed, false and inaccurate information on documents related to annuity transactions, omitted to disclose that the transactions were annuity exchanges and submitted the forms to her member firm and to insurance companies for transactions. The complaint further alleges that Saleh provided, or caused to be provided, false portfolio statements and insurance account histories to customers that reflected false and inaccurate information regarding investments in variable annuities, creating the appearance that the purported value of their investment portfolio was greater than it actually was. In addition, the complaint alleges that Saleh provided, or caused to be provided, false portfolio statements to customers that reflected securities positions that did not exist in their account, and failed to disclose to each of the customers or to her firm that certain annuity transactions constituted an exchange or switch between insurance products and some of these actions caused her firm’s books and records to reflect inaccurate information. Moreover, the complaint alleges that Saleh effected transactions in customers’ accounts without the customers’ knowledge, authorization or consent, and effected these purchases and sales without receiving prior written authorization from the customers to exercise discretion and without the firm’s written acceptance of the accounts as discretionary. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that Saleh falsely represented that she was a customer in telephone conversations with an insurance company. The complaint also alleges that Saleh, by engaging in this misconduct, directly or indirectly, in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, by use of means of instrumentalities of interstate commerce, or of the mails, or of the facilities of a national securities exchange, with scienter, employed devices, schemes or artifices to defraud; made untrue statements of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or engaged in acts, practices or courses of business which operated or would operate as fraud or deceit upon any person. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that Saleh made false and misleading statements during FINRA on-the-record testimony. (FINRA Case #2005002169201)