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by Mike Caswell

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization has begun proceedings against George Alexander Abisaleh, a former employee of TD Investment Services Inc., for misappropriating $214,500 from an elderly client. CIRO claims that Mr. Abisaleh transferred the client's money to his own investment account and used it for unsuccessful options trading. He covered up his actions by providing false statements to the person looking after the client's accounts, CIRO says.

The allegations are contained in a notice of hearing that CIRO released on Friday, Dec. 19. The sole respondent is Mr. Abisaleh, who started working at TD on Feb. 24, 2015, at a branch in the Toronto area. His job included servicing investment accounts and at times handling bank accounts.

The events at issue, as set out by CIRO, go back to 2017 and involve a client identified as "HA," who was 77 years old at the time. The client was in poor health and began living in a long-term care facility in 2019, CIRO says. Starting in April, 2017, Mr. Abisaleh processed transfers in which he directed money from the client's accounts, the notice states. Mr. Abisaleh sent the money, in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $79,000, to his own investment account, according to CIRO.

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