Finra flays widow-cheater

A Long Island stockbroker with a history of ripping off clients was barred from the industry on Thursday for systematically defrauding a blind 82-year-old widow.

Henry Mark Werner, a broker in North Fork, NY, made more than 700 trades, reaping $243,430 in commissions and fees, for three years after his elderly client’s husband died in 2012, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s panel decision to bar him.

Werner also lost more than $183,000 in three of his customers’ accounts, according to the decision.

He has a long rap sheet — working for four brokerages in New York City, Long Island and Oklahoma City that have been expelled from the industry by Finra, a watchdog group.

Werner had $750,000 in tax liens from multiple states and the IRS at about the time he started churning his client’s account, according to Finra’s decision.

His victim, who goes by the initials “DC,” was born in The Bronx and was blind for most of her life. She spent the longest stretch of her career as a typist for the New York Department of Social Services, according to the report.

DC, who also suffers from scoliosis and uses a wheelchair, gave Werner full control of her accounts and relied on him for updates on her financial situation, according to the decision.

Werner insisted he “was nothing but kind to her and did everything she asked,” according to the decision. DC was “more to me than a client, and I felt a strong bond with her,” Werner added for good measure.

Werner, who wasn’t immediately available for comment, was ordered to pay $155,393.61 in restitution, $80,000 in fines, and to disgorge another $10,000.