FBI Seeks Missing Broker and Up to $8 Million Cash

The FBI said Tuesday that it was investigating the whereabouts of a veteran Dean Witter Reynolds stockbroker who allegedly disappeared with as much as $8 million while on a golf trip earlier this month.

Walter F. Curran, 45, of Wellesley, Mass., is said to have left on the trip more than a week ago and has not been heard from. Fellow brokers have described Curran as one of the top money makers in the Boston office, which he joined in 1981.

Curran is believed to have persuaded clients to invest $5 million to $10 million directly with him, rather than with the firm, using the promise of huge returns as an incentive.

“We have initiated an investigation and it’s ongoing,” said FBI spokesman Jack Cloherty. “I really can add no more than that at this time.”

Marty Meehan of the state Securities Division said Dean Witter, which Monday notified officials that the broker was missing, may have violated a state regulation requiring that brokerage houses immediately disclose information about possible theft.

But Dean Witter spokesman James M. Flynn said the brokerage house had complied “to the letter of the law” with state regulations and would continue to cooperate with authorities.

Meehan said state officials were reviewing Dean Witter’s internal reports and interviewing officials, but that neither formal charges nor an arrest warrant had been issued against Curran.