December 7, 2017
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a registered representative in Pennsylvania with operating a long-running offering and investment advisory fraud. The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, alleges that Paul W. Smith raised approximately $2.35 million from approximately 30 investors – many of whom were his brokerage customers – by representing that he would invest their money in publicly traded securities through The Haverford Group, an outside partnership that Smith formed and did not disclose to his broker-dealer employers. However, Smith allegedly made very few securities investments and instead largely used investors’ money to repay other investors and for his own personal use. SEC
Tagged in: Misrepresentations, Securities Fraud,