A federal grand jury has indicted Edwin Emmett Lickiss, Jr., a former financial advisor in the East Bay Area in California, on charges of wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme over more than 25 years, defrauding investors of at least $9.5 million.
According to the indictment unsealed Monday, Lickiss, 77, operated Foundation Financial Group in Danville and Alamo, California, from no later than in or about 1998 through September 2024.
His broker’s license was suspended in 2014, according to his BrokerCheck record with Finra, which also reflects customer disputes against Lickiss in 1991 and a complaint he faced in 1996.
But even after his 2014 suspension, he continued to solicit investments from investors, according to a Monday press release from the Justice Department.
Prosecutors allege that during this period, Lickiss promised clients access to exclusive, high-yield bonds, some with returns exceeding 20%, and described them as “safe, secure, and tax-free.”
“Lickiss falsely represented to victim investors that he would invest their funds in government bonds and other bonds, but instead of investing the funds as promised, Lickiss used the funds on personal expenditures and to pay earlier investors, in the manner of a Ponzi scheme,” the indictment read in part.
To keep up the appearance of legitimacy, Lickiss allegedly provided fraudulent promissory notes and made periodic payments to investors, which he described as interest but were actually funded by money from newer clients.
The indictment further claims that Lickiss failed to inform investors about his suspension from FINRA and the subsequent loss of his broker’s license.
Prosecutors say Lickiss used a variety of tactics to perpetuate the scheme, including telling investors that he and his family had skin in the game and that he would not charge a fee because the investments had paid off so well for him.
When investors demanded payments, Lickiss “generally offered a variety of excuses for why he could not do so, falsely claiming that there was an illness in the family, the banks had improperly withheld the funds, or that he was under audit,” according to the indictment.
The case was announced by United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani, and IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Linda Nguyen.
Lickiss is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Tuesday before Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins in San Francisco. If convicted, he faces up to twenty years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud, and up to ten years and a $250,000 fine for money laundering.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed a civil enforcement action against Lickiss in the Northern District of California.
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