Jul. 17--A retail investor has accused ACL Securities of unauthorised trading of his account and says others should regularly check their statements for irregularities.

Niruth Pintakruji told reporters that a brokerage marketing officer since late last year had made 61 unauthorised trades, worth 14 million baht, using his account and his falsified signature.

Mr Niruth said the scam occurred after he invested in shares of PTT Plc and Supalai Plc through his ACL account.

In November 2008, an ACL marketing officer recommended that Mr Niruth use the shares as collateral against a margin loan account of 3-4 million baht. In February, he said he discovered unauthorised trades were being made on the margin account.

The transactions were not recorded on tape, a possible violation of an SEC rule requiring brokers to maintain tape recordings of telephone conversations between investors and marketing officers to verify transaction orders.

Mr Niruth said that after he notified ACL, the brokerage conducted an internal investigation and acknowledged a violation had occurred. ACL offered compensation of 40,310 baht for losses from the trades. "In fact, I was willing to let the issue be settled. But [ACL] wanted me to accept the compensation while also waiving my right to file charges or seek additional damages," he said.

Mr Niruth said he felt compelled to go public after what he said was inappropriate treatment by ACL. He alleged the broker said that if the terms of the settlement were unacceptable, then he should move his account elsewhere and take legal action.

"I feel that as a financial institution, it is their duty to ensure the safety of their clients. To act like this, after their own customer was cheated, is not right."

Mr Niruth added that he submitted details to the SEC on March 30. Regulators have confirmed that an investigation remains pending.

ACL in a statement acknowledged that an employee had made unauthorised trades resulting in damages of 42,000 baht, including interest, to the client.

However, it said Mr Niruth had sought restitution of 8 million baht, a figure that the SEC ad indicated was excessive when compared with the damage.

According to ACL, Mr Niruth later proposed to settle the case for 3 million baht, a figure still deemed high. ACL and the SEC said they had since yet to hear directly from Mr Niruth.

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