Wisconsin RIA defrauded clients, SEC charges

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued former registered investment adviser Michael F. Shillin, a resident of Appleton, Wisconsin, and charged him with defrauding at least 100 investment advisory clients.

According to the SEC's complaint, Shillin, while acting as an investment adviser, lied to his clients, many of whom were elderly.

The complaint says that Shillin told some clients that they had gotten IPO or pre-IPO shares in high-profile companies when they hadn't and lied to clients about the value of their portfolios.

According to the complaint, Shillin arranged for several clients to roll their existing life insurance policies into new policies, causing the clients to sell securities to pay premiums on policies that were nonexistent or had far fewer benefits than Shillin claimed. Finally, the complaint alleges that Shillin took in hundreds of thousands of dollars in ill-gotten gains as a result of his fraudulent conduct.

The SEC is seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, a civil penalty, and a bar against Shillin serving as an officer or director of a public company.

Shillin, who was affiliated with Alliance Global Partners from 2018 to 2020, was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. on Jan. 22. He had been ordered by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance in Wisconsin to cease and desist, and failed to inform potential investors of those disciplinary actions and falsified the status of investment matters, Finra noted in his BrokerCheck record.

[More: SEC charges Florida RIA with fraud]