Charles Schwab has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent its former advisor, Robert Van Ortega, from soliciting clients for his new registered investment advisor firm, Nhabla Wealth Management.
The firm claims that Ortega took confidential and trade secret information about Schwab’s clients and then used that information to solicit the clients’ business. The complaint further alleges Ortega has breached his contractual obligations to Schwab and broken “numerous laws, including those protecting Schwab’s trade secrets.”
Schwab’s lawsuit seeks injunctive relief to halt Ortega’s alleged ongoing misconduct, noting that, in his former capacity as a Schwab registered representative, Ortega served high-net-worth clients with some $1.5 billion in assets.
In a statement shared with ThinkAdvisor, a spokesperson said Schwab considers the protection of client information and confidentiality to be of utmost importance and expects that its representatives will comply with their contractual and legal obligations.
"We intend to enforce our rights and hold Mr. Ortega accountable for violating his obligations and taking Schwab’s confidential information," the spokesperson added.
Ortega could not immediately be reached for comment.
