A former broker at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) has sued the company, claiming that he was threatened and sacked as a way of punishing him for cooperating in a federal investigation which a company’s high-profile fund manager and who was a “prized depositor is being investigated.
The compliant of Barry Snyder makes him a victim of the bank and federal investigators, and both sides are threatening him and turning on him.
In a statement, the complaint said the authorities had instructed Snyder to fully cooperate and help in the investigation and anything small hint that would indicate to a possible failure to cooperate would not be tolerated. Snyder was also instructed not to discuss the details of the investigations with anyone; otherwise this would be deemed obstruction of justice.
Initially, Snyder was an employee in Palm Beach, Florida, before moving to Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse Group AG. The Barron’s 2008 survey of financial advisers ranked him 22nd.He later moved to JPMorgan Securities in 2013, in which he says he brought with him many clients.
He served at JPMorgan Securities for around one and half years before he got a “surprise visit” at his home. The visitors were from federal authorities including the FBI in 2015. In the compliant, he says he was ordered by the authorities to report to their offices located in South Florida in 24 hours and told not to mention the visit to any person — including his employer.
During the visit, Snyder said he was told there was a criminal securities fraud probe involving an “important fund principal” with JPMorgan and other professionals associated with him. The fund manager isn’t being sued, nor was identified in the complaint. The manager publicly settled with authorities later, Snyder said.
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According to the lawsuit, Snyder socially knew the fund manager although he wasn’t his broker. He was however well aware that his client did a lot of business with the bank. The federal investigators told Snyder they believed he had information that is needed in the probe and ordered him to fully cooperate.
For several months, Snyder followed the instructions and was meeting with investigators very often. He later stopped meeting them, a decision that angered them. JPMorgan Securities later fired him when he refused to divulge information surrounding the investigations even after being pressed hard.