Rogue advisors on parade

A well-known Utah insurance agent and leader in the Church of Latter Day Saints is going to jail for up to 15 years for defrauding 1,500 investors of roughly $20 million. The agent traded on his position of influence in the church to persuade fellow members to buy promissory notes for development projects. The notes, which purported to pay 10 percent interest in 30 days, were actually part of a long-running Ponzi scheme that fleeced the Mormon faithful of their life's savings.

A New York investment advisor was sentenced to 97 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges that he stole $7 million from investors. Convicted of investment advisory, wire, and securities fraud, the advisor used client funds to buy multi-million homes and fancy automobiles. He made unauthorized transfers from client accounts by submitting forged documents to his broker-dealer and lied to investors about how the funds would be used.

FINRA permanently barred a Florida registered representative from the securities business for misappropriating over $1.9 million in client funds, while making false statements and sending falsified account statements and other documents statements to his customers to hide his scheme. According to FINRA, the rep persuaded clients to invest in fictitious financial products, including what purported to be tax-free corporate bonds and CDs. Instead of forwarding the checks to his employer, a large life insurer, he deposited them in his own bank account and diverted the money to his personal use.