The Frankowski Firm is investigating potential claims against FINRA-expelled broker Ellen Vratoric, of the Pittsburgh, PA area. FINRA barred Ms. Vratoric from the securities industry based on her failure to cooperate with FINRA’s investigation into allegations that Ms. Vratoric altered documents associated with a variable annuity purchase and made misrepresentations and omissions in the sales of variable annuities.

According to FINRA’s default decision resulting in Ms. Vratoric’s ban, Ms. Vratoric was fired from Huntington Investment Company after its internal investigation uncovered a “document integrity” issue related to the signature page on a customer form related to a variable annuity purchase. The firm likewise reported that multiple customers had lodged complaints regarding Ms. Vratoric’s sales of variable and fixed annuities, including a specific complaint in which the customer alleged that Ms. Vratoric failed to disclose risks and penalties associated with the variable annuity Ms. Vratoric sold him.

In addition to the regulatory action and permanent bar, Ms. Vratoric’s FINRA BrokerCheck report includes disclosures of a previous customer complaint against Ms. Vratoric in November 2015 alleging that Ms. Vratoric transferred $43,000 into a variable annuity without the client’s permission and did not disclose key risks and penalties associated with a variable annuity investment. Ms. Vratoric was discharged by Huntington Investment Company in March 2016, following “an increased number of customer complaints” and the discovery of the “document integrity” issue described above.

If you or someone you know lost money as a client of Ellen Vratoric or The Huntington Investment Company due to unsuitable, misrepresented, or unauthorized transactions, please call the Frankowski Firm at 888.741.7503 or fill out this contact form.