Indiana investment advisor Bernie Parker was sentenced yesterday to more than seven years in prison and ordered to repay his clients the money he stole from them. After serving his 87 month sentence, Parker must serve three years of supervised release. He was found guilty of one count each of securities fraud and mail fraud, and four counts of filing false tax returns.
The 56-year-old owner of Parker Financial Services bilked at least 22 clients out of $1,212,663, spending the money on personal expenses, including a pyramid scheme in which he paid off earlier investors to make it appear as if it was the proceeds of his investing expertise. He also filed false tax returns from 2010 through 2013. Parker signed his clients to “Investors Contracts”, promising to invest in tax lien certificates, municipal bonds, computer software, real estate, and other “undefined investments”.
The case was prosecuted by the FBI, IRS, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
[xyz-ihs snippet=”ST-Bank”]
