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by Mike Caswell

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization has begun proceedings against former National Bank Financial Inc. employee Lucie Roland, claiming that she facilitated unauthorized withdrawals from the accounts of elderly clients. CIRO says that Ms. Roland entered withdrawal requests based solely on e-mails that came from unknown addresses. She arranged for transfers to third parties without taking any steps to contact the clients for confirmation, according to CIRO.

The allegations are contained in a notice of hearing that CIRO released on Nov. 7, 2023. The sole respondent is Ms. Roland, who worked at National Bank from March, 2012, to December, 2021. The events at issue occurred in 2021, and involved the accounts of three clients, aged 72, 76 and 85.

The events at issue, as set out by CIRO, go back to Sept. 23, 2021, when Ms. Roland initiated a withdrawal request, supposedly on behalf of a client. National Bank's procedures required her to obtain a letter from the client and to obtain a verbal confirmation prior to the transfer, CIRO says. According to CIRO, Ms. Roland received her instructions from the client through an e-mail. The e-mail, however, came from an address that resembled that of the client, but was different from the address in National Bank's records, CIRO claims.

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