Jailed former LPL rep faces SEC fraud charges

Thomas Edward Andrews, a former broker with LPL Financial in rural Utah who's now in federal prison, has been charged by the SEC with defrauding 23 investors. Also included in the charge is his former assistant, Scott Christensen, who also is in prison. The complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission, filed in federal court in Utah, alleges that from 2010 through the fall of 2015, Mr. Andrews defrauded investors by convincing them to liquidate other investments and put their money in "the Jackson Trust" and "the Lincoln," promising them high returns. The complaint alleges that the companies and investments were fictitious, and that Mr. Andrews used the investors' funds to pay his personal expenses. Mr. Andrews allegedly misappropriated $8,384,253 from investors and paid Mr. Christensen $1 million. The SEC's complaint charges the former broker and his assistant with violating sections of the Securities Acts, as well as charging Mr. Andrews with violating the Exchange Act for operating as an unregistered securities broker. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement and civil penalties. In December, Mr. Andrews pleaded guilty to securities and mail fraud and was sentenced to 97 months in prison and ordered to pay $8,384,253 in restitution by a U.S. District Court judge in Utah. Last July, Mr. Christensen pleaded guilty to securities fraud and making a false statement to a federal agent and later was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution.