A former securities broker suspended in 2014 pleaded guilty in federal court last week to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in connection with a Ponzi scheme that stretched across 26 years, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California announced.
Edwin Emmett Lickiss Jr., 78, of Danville, California, admitted that from 1998 through September 2024, he defrauded over 93 investors of at least $9.5 million, according to prosecutors.
To lure investors, Lickiss falsely claimed that he would place victim funds into exclusive, safe, tax-free bonds, with some generating returns exceeding 20%, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. He also issued fraudulent promissory notes on the letterhead of his former firm, Foundation Financial Group, according to the statement.
In reality, according to prosecutors, Lickiss used subsequent victim funds to make payments to those who had invested earlier, in typical Ponzi scheme fashion. He also diverted victim funds for his own use, including cash withdrawals, home renovations, travel and payments on vehicles, mortgages and personal credit cards, they said.
Lickiss, released pending a sentencing hearing scheduled for Aug. 28, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison 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.
He acted as an advisor in Danville and nearby Alamo, according to the indictment filed last year.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority suspended Lickiss' license in 2014 — this related to FINRA findings that he had failed to disclose tax liens, according to his BrokerCheck record — and he lost the license two years later, the indictment states. He sold his firm and purportedly retired from buying and selling securities, according to prosecutors.
Despite the suspension and subsequent loss of his broker's license, Lickiss continued to fraudulently solicit and obtain investments from investors until roughly September 2024, the indictment says.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed related civil charges against Lickiss.
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