Let me start with the re-statement of a simple truth. The fact that licensing requirements require stockbrokers to sit “zombie-like” 
through ethics sessions is no guarantee that the broker will emerge an ethical person, just ask Ronald Clark Ball.
Another truth: most parroted sessions in the stockbroker ethics classes fail to address the fact that an atmosphere of fraud requires three important elements: opportunity, need and rationalization. Take, for example, Ronald Clark Ball who – at best – is a man devoid of empathy, morality and decency.
Ronald Clark Ball – Defrauding the Client
In a jury trial in the Escambia County courts (Pensacola, Florida), the stockbroker was found guilty of what the judge described as a “complex white-collar crime that involved multiple victims and thousands of financial transactions.”
Included in the nine felony charges were multiple counts of grand theft, a jury convicted of nine felony charges, including three counts of grand theft, money laundering (two counts), racketeering (two counts) and criminal solicitation.
The center-piece to the investigation was how Ronald Clark Ball defrauded the widow of more than $1 million of the life insurance proceeds.
Ronald Clark Ball saw an opportunity. He pretended and misrepresented to her that he would invest the money to her benefit. He had no such intention. Instead, he created shell companies and then ran (laundered) that money through brokerage and bank accounts. The kept more than $800,000 for himself. While he was at it, and furthering his need for greater amounts of money he used those same companies to falsely apply for credit; more than $300,000 in credit lines from credit card companies, auto finance, a bank, and a mortgage loan company.
The Threat
After the widow realized her money was gone, she went to law enforcement and Ronald Clark Ball was arrested. Even then, this unethical person sent the widow a threatening text. This was followed by his attempt to hide evidence from investigators including his laptop, cell phone, papers and external drives. He attempted to get his brother to do this dirty work, but fortunately investigators got a search warrant before the brother could remove the evidence. It makes the brother’s complicity a crime as well.
The stockbroker’s crimes were so serious and so transparent in their wickedness that he could face as much as 160 years in state prison.
In his mind he was undoubtedly able to rationalize his behavior by convincing himself that because she is the widow of a doctor that she had plenty of money stashed away. She wouldn’t miss it. Obviously, such rationalization is not only besides the point but highly unethical in and of itself.
Ethics doesn’t work by discerning a victim’s status before they are wronged. Whether a crime is perpetrated on someone very rich or very poor does not negate the fact that it is a crime. By the way, most physicians are not multi-millionaires. We should not forget that the vast majority carry huge student loans that must be paid down.
Rationalization is a sure indicator that the unethical person has tried to justify their unethical behavior. In this case, the widow badly needed the life insurance money. Now it is gone.
The Irony
There is probably no other industry that has been under as much scrutiny as financial services. SEC compliance and ethical training of stockbrokers goes back decades, yet men such as Ronald Clark Ball exist in the unethical slime.
They are allowed to exist, I believe, because the ethical bar has been set so low and the conveyance of ethical messaging has been so pre-packaged and predictable as to be nearly invisible in intent.
Several years ago, I remember having an ethical conversation with a commodities trader for a major brokerage. I asked him about ethics. He said that every year he and his staff slept through a presentation and then went, “back to work to make money for the company.” Yes, I interrupted, I get that, but how are good ethics made a part of your business? He winked at me and said, “You obviously don’t understand the pressures of my world.”
I perfectly understand his world, just as I understand the pressures on Ronald Clark Ball to steal money from widows. I also understand what it is like to sit in a jail cell after being found guilty of fraud. Fraud led Ronald Clark Ball to get very artistic and creative with his cover-ups, but in the end, it could not cover up the truth. Perhaps his “creativity” will make his jail cell just a bit more attractive.
-YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!
Excellent article.. This criminal deserves to rot in prison until he dies. He rented my condo on Pensacola Beach, lied about who he was.
He is a despicable person. He destroyed my Portofino unit & his dog helped too. (No dogs allowed). Said he was a Hedge Fund MGR when he rented my unit. He was a lowlife criminal predator. I was a witness, and attended his sentencing.. I would like to contact you with further questions & information