Five simple steps that may take you all of two or three minutes. And what do we find? We’re on Gonzalez’s FINRA BrokerCheck online record.  On Page 3 we learn that he was, indeed, registered with Salomon Smith Barney from 1994 to 2000; and then with Crowell, Weedon & Co. from 2000 through July 2001.  On Page 8 of the BrokerCheck record we learn that on September 26, 2003, Gonzalez was barred by the New York Stock Exchange pursuant to a settlement in which the allegation was misappropriation of customer funds.  At this point, I opened up a new browser window and went to the New York Stock Exchange’s website at http://nyse.com , where I typed in Gonzalez’s name and clicked on a result, which was his disciplinary Decision: http://www.nyse.com/pdfs/03-161.pdf. What we learn from the NYSE’s Decision is that allegedly from 1995 through 1999, “20 checks with a total value of approximately $95,700 were drawn against Customer S’s account at the Firm and made payable to members of Gonzalez’s family.”  Oh, hold on, we’re not done. Don’t be so quick. Just imagine that you’ve been contacted by Michael Anthony Gonzalez about his investment program and, gee, you know, you thought that before writing out a six-figure check that you might spend, say, five minutes online checking this guy out. Not great due diligence but at least a minimal effort.  On Page 9 of Gonzalez’s BrokerCheck report we learn that on June 30, 2003, the old NASD barred him pursuant to the terms of a settlement. I invested about another minute of my time, went to http://finra.org, typed in Gonzalez’s name and found this on Page 494 at http://www.finra.org/web/groups/industry/@ip/@enf/@da/documents/disciplinaryactions/p007443.pdf:  Michael Anthony Gonzalez (CRD #2515811, RegisteredRepresentative, Pasadena, California) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent in which he was barred from association with any NASD member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Gonzalez consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he received $27,200 from a public customer to be invested, and instead of applying the funds as directed, he misused the funds for a period of time before returning the misused funds to the customer. (NASD Case #C02030038)in which the main allegation was the misuse of $27,200 in customer funds.  Sure, I could start a rant here about lazy investors and the need for some eugenics on Wall Street, but what’s the point — really? If Bernie Madoff were released from prison tomorrow, there are likely morons among us who would hand him fat checks to invest. And, equally likely, after they learned that good old Bernie had fleeced them, they would claim that they didn’t know he had a criminal record.  So, go ahead, yell and scream all you want about MF Global, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, and any other firm that you don’t like. In the end, if a two-time, penny ante loser like Gonzalez can separate a million bucks from the savings accounts of his pigeons, why would you really expect any reform on Wall Street: If you’re always counting on the regulators to do your work, it’s never going to solve anything.
A few minutes of online search could likely have avoided lots of heart ache for many defrauded investors. Follow Bill Singer's simple steps.