A former Merrill Lynch & Co. financial adviser, Marcus Boggs, was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to defrauding clients of $3 million, according to local news reports in Chicago.
Boggs, 51, was arrested a year ago at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago prior to boarding an international flight, according to a statement by the Department of Justice at the time, which also noted that one of the victims was a man who received approximately $5 million in a wrongful conviction settlement.
Boggs pleaded guilty to wire fraud in March, and on Thursday was sentenced to 42 months in prison, and ordered to pay restitution of more than $3 million to his victims, according to a report by CBS Chicago.
Boggs was a broker at Merrill Lynch in Chicago from 2006 to 2018, according to his BrokerCheck report. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. barred him from the securities industry in 2019, and a year later he was barred by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"We fired Mr. Boggs in December 2018 after an internal investigation found he stole client funds and made unauthorized transactions," a Merrill Lynch spokesperson wrote in an email. "We notified the appropriate authorities and have cooperated with their investigations. Consistent with our policy, Merrill Lynch notified affected clients and has reimbursed them."
Prosecutors said Boggs spent the money on international travel, expensive dinners and on multiple apartments in Chicago, according to the news reports.
U.S. district judge in the northern district of Illinois, Mary Rowland, on Thursday told Boggs he was “just living high — just living way, way, way beyond your means. And that’s just wrong,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
According to the Sun-Times report, before he was sentenced, Marcus Boggs told the judge: “I’ve dishonored myself and my reputation” and “what I did was wrong, there is no excuse.”
“Words can’t express how immensely sorry, remorseful and overcome with shame I am,” Boggs said.
The firm's CFO and EVP of Wealth Management Solutions are the latest executives to exit the broker-dealer.
Clients are saying they would consider switching advisors if another professional offered estate planning services, according to a new Trust & Will survey.
CEO Laurel Taylor says the fintech's composable AI stack helps workers optimize dollars across Trump Accounts, 529s, 401(k)s, and other employee benefits.
The bank has swiped three private banking veterans from BNY as the city climbs the ranks of America's fastest-growing wealth hubs.
Employee accounts, crypto trials and job cuts frame a pivotal year for the Swiss lender.
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
Direct indexing is on pace to outgrow ETFs and mutual funds. Northern Trust's Ken Lassner explains why the advisors who get it wish they had started sooner.
