According to an article from InvestmentNews.com, the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a 77-year-old Amish financial advisor with defrauding others in the Amish community over a 24-year period. Monroe L. Beachy, the man being charged, was able to raise more than $33 million dollars from more than 2,600 investors, the majority of whom were Amish. According to the article written by Jessica Toonkel, Mr. Beachy told his investor that he would place their money in “risk-free U.S. government securities” but instead invested in speculative investments and “lied about it.”
In June of 2010 Mr. Beachy filed for bankruptcy and by that time, “less than $18 million of the original $33 million of investor money remained.” Up until then, then SEC claims, he lied about the nature of the investments and “never told his investors that he had experienced significant losses on the underlying investments.” Not only did he withhold information about losses, he fabricated gains on monthly account statements to mislead investors.
The article states that he has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges without admitting or denying the allegation and based on his financial situation, the SEC is not going to impose a civil penalty.
Page Perry, is an Atlanta-based law firm with over 125 years of collective experience representing investors in securities-related litigation and arbitration. While past results are not indicative of future success, Page Perry’s attorneys have assisted dozens of investors in recovering over $130 million from brokerage firms since 2005. Page Perry’s attorneys are actively involved in counseling institutional and individual investors regarding their investment problems. For further information, please contact us.