Adorean Boleancu was a Wells Fargo Private Banker and Senior Vice President who the San Francisco Sentinel described in 2008 as the “Hottest Financial Advisor to the Swells.” One of his clients (but maybe not one of the “Swells”) was a woman the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) characterized as an elderly, inexperienced and unsophisticated widow who “relied completely” on Mr. Boleancu “for her investments and safekeeping of her financial assets.” That turned out badly. As laid out in a FINRA consent order issued on March 5, 2013, beginning in 2008 Mr. Boleancu converted $650,000 from the widow by writing checks from her account to various people, including his own girlfriend. Worse still – and it seldom gets worse than these facts – he drew the checks against the widow’s home equity line of credit. This disgusting course of conduct continued for almost two years.
A Google search reveals that prior to his fall from grace, Mr. Boleancu was known for his posh life style, his two million dollar San Francisco condo and Napa estate, and his really bad inspirational poetry. Exhibit A to the charge of bad poetry is entitled “Positive Self,” which encourages us “May your warm thoughts flow…long, smooth, and surreal as the Nile. May your inner self be filled with positive Karma, sooner and for a long while!” In the same poetic spirit, I offer “Not So Positive Self.” “If the widow’s money gives you the itch, you ought to remember that Karma’s a bitch!”
The story here is a sad but familiar one. The temptation for brokers to tamper with other people’s money is substantial. The most basic obligation of brokerage firms is to protect a client’s assets. The question that lingers is how Mr. Boleancu got away with his fraud for so long. Brokers are supposed to be supervised by their firms. For the sake of all the trusting widows out there, let’s hope that FINRA examines the question of just how much or how little Wells Fargo supervised Mr. Boleancu.
