A former securities broker suspended 11 years ago over unreported tax liens now has been charged with defrauding at least 50 investors through a $9.5 million Ponzi scheme.
A federal grand jury last week indicted Edwin Emmett Lickiss Jr., 77, on counts of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with the alleged investment scheme. He is accused of using funds for himself and to pay earlier investors.
Lickiss owned and operated Foundation Financial Group, in Danville and Alamo, California, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California. He was a financial advisor for nearly 25 years, until September, according to the indictment filed Thursday and unsealed Monday.
He was scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil complaint against Lickiss and cites higher numbers of alleged victims and dollar amounts.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority suspended Lickiss' license in 2014, the U.S. attorney’s office noted in a statement. He sold his firm and purportedly retired from buying and selling securities, according to the indictment.
“Despite the suspension and loss of his broker’s license, Lickiss allegedly continued to solicit and obtain investments from victim investors until around September 2024,” the prosecutors' statement said.
Lickiss falsely represented to investors that he would invest their money in government and other bonds, claiming he had exclusive access to fictitious bonds paying very high rates, the indictment alleges. He described them as safe, secure and tax-free, and falsely claimed they could be redeemed at any time, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege Lickiss gave fraudulent promissory notes and purported to track investors’ investment in the fake bonds. Occasionally he made “lulling” payments to the victim investors, falsely describing the money as accrued interest when really they were funds Lickiss had fraudulently obtained from later investors, according to prosecutors.
Lickiss also allegedly failed to notify victim investors that FINRA had suspended him in 2014 and that he lost his broker’s license in 2016, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
The SEC’s complaint alleges the fraudulent promissory notes purported to pay 9% to 32% interest and that sales included at least $12.7 million in investments from about 80 investors from 2018 to August 2024.
The former broker used the money for cash withdrawals, home renovations, travel and car, mortgage and personal credit card payments, authorities said.
If convicted, Lickiss faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine on the wire fraud count, and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the money laundering count. Federal court records online didn’t identify a defense attorney for him.
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