Complaint Rating:

In the year of 2006, I realized that I was fast approaching retirement age. After inquiring of family and friends, I sought out AXA Equitable as I was told that Ms. Sheila was an exceptional financial planner.

I spoke with Sheila several times over the phone as she was located in Philadelphia Pa. After our discussions about my needs for retirement and the monies I would be investing, Sheila made a trip to New York. Sheila was very personable and we seemed to hit it off well.

We discussed several different options; the Roth IRA, Traditional IRA and an Insurance plan for my granddaughter that would allow me to save money for her education. I explained to Sheila that I had several different pension plans that I wanted to consolidate. I also explained that I had money in a money market from refinancing my home that I wanted to invest.

The bottom line is that money was rolled over from the different accounts into a Roth IRA and a Traditional IRA. I also gave Sheila a check for $40, 000.00 which she did place in a Roth IRA along with a approximately $3000.00 rolled over from another financial institution.

In February of 2008, I received a letter from Wendy, Manager of Investigation, AXA Equitable. That letter stated that it had been noted that "signatures did not appear to be consistent thru out all my documentation." Wendy forwarded the questionable documents to me and after close scrutiny, I realized that my signature had been forged. At that point, I contacted the audit department. They could only suggest that I contact my Financial Professional, Sheila. I instead sought the advice of a lawyer. He instructed me to be very vigilant in checking my monthly statements. Since no money was missing, there was little that could be done. What I really wanted to do was remove all my monies from that institution. However, I found out this was not an option as I would be penalized.

As time past, I became more and more uneasy. In April of 2008, I requested $6, 700.00 from the Roth IRA to make a purchase. Later on in the year, I did have the Roth IRA rolled over to another account. I was penalized in excess of $2000.00.

During income tax time in 2007, I did receive a statement from AXA for the $6, 700.00. AXA had neglected to check off the type of account the money had been removed from. As my accountant needed this information before he could complete my income tax, he requested that I call AXA and obtain the information.

When I related the information to my accountant, he informed me that a lump sum of money could not be legally placed in a Roth IRA unless it was being rolled over from another account. Ms. Sheila had knowingly placed money in a Roth IRA inappropriately. In addition, Ms. Sheila had forged my signature to documents.

AXA Equitable has been informed and chose to do nothing about it. Is this the type of Financial Institution you want to do business with. A Financial Institution that OFFERS NO PROTECTION to its investors and LOOK THE OTHER WAY when their own audit department reveals that forgery within there institution have occurred.

EVIDENCE OF ALL STATEMENTS AVAILABLE.