Caveat Emptor

As the year comes to a close, it’s a good time to be reminded that if an investment seems too good to be true, it probably is. A New York financial planner faces up to 16 years in prison for promulgating a Ponzi scheme.

Frederick Monroe of Queensbury, N.Y., who was registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority as having been an employee of Voya Financial Advisors since 2006, has pleaded guilty to money-laundering and scheming to defraud, among other charges, which will lead to a prison sentence of between three and 16 years when he is sentenced in February, according to the newspaper.

Monroe admitted to taking more than $1 million from at least 20 clients in personal checks from 2002 to May of 2015, money that he then used to pay earlier clients in his pyramid, as well as pay off his own personal credit card, mortgage, hotels and air flights, the Times Union writes.

So let’s make resolutions for the new year, but let’s make sure they are realistic goals. Then we might be less vulnerable to scams. As devastating as the court’s sentence will be to Frederick Monroe, it fails to tell the story of the many trusting investors who lost retirements and life savings in his wake. Buyers beware.

The entire article from the Trust Advisor can be found here.

Photo by Seyed Mostafa Zamani