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Wells Fargo Advisors sues former wealth advisers for taking client information

Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC, doing business as Wells Fargo Advisors, has sued a group of former financial advisers for allegedly stealing proprietary information.

The group, known as Liberty Wealth Solutions, are now registered representatives with Kestra Investment Services LLC. The advisers — Steven Battel, Nancy Hurst, Bruce Battel and Robert Yevchak — all resigned from Wells Fargo on April 25.

Wells Fargo accused the group of taking more data than is allowed under the Protocol for Broker Recruiting, which both Wells Fargo Advisors and Kestra have agreed to.

According to the complaint, a client of Liberty Wealth Solutions received a package from the group asking her to transfer her assets to their new firm. The client's personal and financial information, including account numbers and values, had allegedly already been filled out in the documents sent to her, indicating that Liberty Wealth Solutions had taken that data from her account at Wells Fargo Advisors.

Wells Fargo is seeking preliminary injunctive relief against the defendants. The company's motion for a temporary restraining order was denied.

The lawsuit was filed May 31 in the U.S. District Court for the district of New Jersey. Kestra did not immediately respond to a request for comment.