Former Investment Advisor Arrested for $20 Million Fraud

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/former-investment-advisor-arrested-20-million-fraud

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of Virginia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 24, 2017

Former Investment Advisor Arrested for $20 Million Fraud

NORFOLK, Va. – The former owner of a Virginia Beach investment company was arrested today for his alleged role in leading an investment fraud scheme that caused losses of at least $20 million. Daryl Gene Bank, 47, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Raeann Gibson, 45, of Palm City, Florida, were previously residents of Virginia Beach. Each have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, mail and wire fraud, and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. According to the allegations in the indictment, Bank created, owned and operated dozens of Virginia limited liability companies, including Dominion Investment Group (DIG), and Dominion Private Client Group (DPCG), with offices in Virginia Beach and in Port St. Lucie.

According to allegations in the indictment, Bank and Gibson engaged in a conspiracy by which they operated several investment fraud schemes from approximately January 2012 through July 2017. For example, in one fraud scheme, Bank caused numerous material misrepresentations and omissions to be made to several investors, including BC, who was blind and in his late 70s at the time he invested $20,000 of his retirement funds in an investment fraud called Prime Spectrum. Immediately upon receipt of BC’s funds, Bank and Gibson misappropriated 70 percent investment funds and sent BC a statement reflecting his investment in Prime Spectrum was fully invested.

During the various fraud schemes, Bank and Gibson prepared materially false and misleading investment offerings, and knowingly omitted information and made material misrepresentations to at least 300 investors, causing his victims to lose at least a combined $20 million.

According to the indictment, in 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil complaint against Bank and entities he controlled accusing him of running a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud investors. That same year, the Virginia State Corporation Commission filed a civil enforcement action against both Bank and Gibson to enjoin them from the fraudulent sale of unregistered securities.

If you believe you may be a victim in this case, please call the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office at: 757-609-2514.
(snip)