February 14, 2017

Purported real estate investment manager James P. Toner, Jr. of Scottsdale, Arizona will pay more than $500,000 to settle charges that he pocketed investor money in an investment scheme.  The SEC alleges that Toner siphoned $51,000 from investors who were falsely told that he would personally manage some of the real estate projects in which they were purchasing interests.  The stated purpose of each investor offering was to purchase a residential property in the Phoenix area, renovate the property, and then sell it for a profit.  According to the SEC’s complaint, Toner took $31,000 in undisclosed management fees even though he did not manage any of the offerings, and stole $20,000 directly from an investor.  Without conducting any due diligence, Toner allegedly entrusted the management of the investments to a real estate broker who subsequently squandered investor funds.  According to the SEC’s complaint, the real estate broker was later imprisoned for other crimes.  SEC

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud,