Federal prosecutors announced the indictment of a Chicago investment advisor on charges of swindling three of his clients, reports Insurance News Net.
32-year-old David Sheldon Wells was charged with three counts of wire fraud, according to the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and the U.S. Secret Service.
The case stems from Wells’ tenure as an advisor in the Chicago branch of a subsidiary of a Midwestern bank. The indictment states that in 2020 and 2021, Wells falsely represented to three clients that he would invest their money in publicly traded companies. The clients, including two elderly men with dementia, sent him checks made payable to “Wayne and Stark,” which Wells claimed was a publicly traded company. But Wayne and Stark was actually a shell company set up and solely controlled by Wells, according to the charges.
Wells allegedly swindled the clients out of about $683,000 and used the money for his own expenses, including rent and unauthorized trading in high-risk options contracts. The indictment said he lost or otherwise spent all of the clients’ funds.
If convicted, Wells could face up to 20 years in federal prison on each of the three counts of wire fraud.
Hyman Cotter PC routinely represents investors harmed when financial professionals and their firms engaged in misconduct that caused their clients investment losses. Our team includes lawyers who have worked for large financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley and UBS Financial Services, and regulatory bodies such as the SEC. If you think your financial professional or firm engaged in misconduct that caused you investment losses, contact Hyman Cotter PC at 312-291-4600 or through our online contact form for a no-cost evaluation of your matter.
