FINRA barred former Waddell & Reed broker Joseph Robert Holzhause for signing and distributing a misleading letter on firm letterhead and for failing to inform Waddell & Reed of an outside consulting business activity. FINRA barred Holzhause from the industry after he failed to provide on-the-record testimony for this investigation.
The investigative report states that Holzhause signed and sent to a third party a false and materially misleading letter that confirmed a specific non-client's financial ability to purchase a multimillion dollar home. In other words, the "client" was not actually a customer of Waddell & Reed—this person never held any funds or securities at the firm—but Holzhause nonetheless used Waddell & Reed letterhead for the misleading letter referring to the individual as a client.
FINRA concluded that Holzhause had not actually reviewed any account statements, tax returns, or other documents that would have portrayed this client's wealth or ability to make a multimillion dollar purchase. Instead, according to the report, Holzhause relied on verbal statement from the client without verifying its truth.
Investigators found that the non-client was actually a customer of Holzhause's at a real estate consulting services company, Robert Kaye Consulting, which Holzhause failed to disclose to Waddell & Reed. As such, FINRA additionally sanctioned Holzhause for this undisclosed outside business activity and for using a personal e-mail account to conduct firm-related business, which caused a compliance violation for Waddell & Reed as the firm could not save business-related e-mails as required by FINRA rules.
According to his BrokerCheck report, after separating from Waddell & Reed in 2013, Holzhause registered at Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, Ameriprise Financial Services, and Country Capital Management Company, all in the Henderson/Las Vegas, Nevada area, before his permanent bar from the financial industry. The report also indicates Holzhause stopped working at Robert Kaye Consulting in July 2014.
If you have invested with Joseph Robert Holzhause or with any financial adviser or broker whose false and misleading statements or improper business activities has proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.