Unregistered South Carolina adviser get 6 years in prison for fraud

Melvin Wimmer, an unregistered investment adviser in South Carolina who pled guilty to one count of securities fraud in May, was sentenced Tuesday to 75 months in prison. He was also ordered to pay more than $3 million in restitution to clients. "Evidence uncovered in the investigation established that in 2007, Wimmer started an investment firm in Greenwood called Cornerstone Capital," according to a statement from the Department of Justice. "From 2010 to 2017, approximately twenty-five individuals invested $3.6 million with Wimmer. Wimmer pooled the money into one bank account, and he invested in high-risk securities and futures contracts." "Wimmer committed fraud by issuing fraudulent account statements to his investors," according to the statement. "Of the $3.6 million invested, Wimmer lost approximately $3 million. Much of this money came from the investors' retirement savings." The Securities and Exchange Commission in August barred Mr. Wimmer from the securities industry. Mr. Wimmer "knowingly and willfully devised a scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises in connection with the purchase and sale of a security," the SEC said in its administrative proceeding. Mr. Wimmer's attorney, David Aylor, was not available Thursday afternoon to comment.