Charlene B. Veara of South Yarmouth has been barred from acting as an investment adviser or a broker dealer in Massachusetts after she transferred money from a 98-year-old woman’s investment ­account to a company she controlled, Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin said Thursday. The state Securities Division imposed a permanent cease-and-desist order, settling a 2010 administrative complaint against Veara, Galvin’s office said.

According to allegations in the complaint, Veara was a registered representative in the Hyannis office of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. She gained power of attorney for the elderly investor and transferred $179,000 from her Morgan Stanley ­account to a firm called Cape Cod Caretakers.

Veara was discharged by Morgan Stanley in 2010, two weeks after the Securities Division began an examination of Morgan Stanley’s books, Galvin’s office said. The division is part of Galvin’s office. In October, Morgan Stanley restored the money to the investor’s account.

Joseph Hardcastle, Veara’s attorney, said she settled to avoid the expense of litigation and denies the allegations. She was not fined, he noted.