A former Morgan Stanley advisor has received three years probation for improperly accessing client information on his firm’s computer systems.
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that Galen Marsh has been sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to pay US$600,000 in restitution for obtaining confidential client information by gaining unauthorized access to the firm’s computer systems. Marsh pled guilty on Sept. 21, and was sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.
Marsh allegedly conducted approximately 6,000 unauthorized searches on the firm’s systems, and obtained confidential client information, including names, addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, fixed-income investment information, and account values, for approximately 730,000 accounts. He then uploaded this information to a personal server at his home in New Jersey.
Marsh illegally accessed the client information “in order to use it for his personal advantage as a private wealth management advisor at the bank”, the U.S. Dept. of Justice says in a statement, and he was also engaged in discussions about moving to a rival firm.