FA Ben Dembla Barred for Gaming Merrill’s Mutual Fund Share Order System

Bhenoy “Ben” Dembla (CRD#: 4357042) is a former broker and investment advisor. From 2001 to 2016, Mr. Dembla was a representative of Merrill Lynch in Chicago, Illinois.

In August of 2016, Mr. Dembla was discharged following allegations that he circumvented the firm’s limitations of mutual fund shares in customer accounts.

On February 5th, 2019, FINRA barred former Merrill Lynch financial advisor Ben Dembla from the securities industry. Here, our FINRA arbitration attorneys provide an overview of the allegations against Mr. Dembla.

For full details pertaining to this case, please refer to Letters of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent 2016051014801.

Barred Broker: Ben Dembla Formerly of Merrill Lynch

According to FINRA, Mr. Dembla entered and then cancelled fictitious mutual fund orders to get around restrictions placed by his member firm regarding how many class B mutual fund shares each customer can own. These types of mutual fund shares generally contain higher sales charges. His conduct affected at least 18 Merrill Lynch customers, causing them to pay unnecessary fees. The brokerage firm paid these customers nearly $32,000 in financial restitution.

The agency contends that Mr. Dembla acted unethically, in violation of FINRA Rule 2010. Without admitting or denying wrongdoing, Mr. Dembla consented to FINRA’s findings and accepted an indefinite bar from the securities industry. Notably, four customer complaints against Mr. Dembla have been settled in recent years. Collectively, the four investors received more than $550,000.

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