Maine Advisor Pleads Guilty To Fraud
Oct. 10--GARDINER, Maine -- A Scarborough man pleaded guilty Friday to charges of securities fraud, forgery, misuse of entrusted property and theft in connection with his handling of a client's insurance and investment accounts.
Thomas E. Skypeck entered his plea during a hearing in York County Superior Court, Maine Securities Administrator Judith Shaw, Insurance Superintendent Eric Cioppa and Attorney General Janet Mills said in a news release.
Sentencing has been deferred in accordance with a plea agreement that will allow Skypeck to comply with the terms of the agreement, including paying $5,070 in restitution.
According to officials, Skypeck began working with the client in 2009 in his capacity as a Maine licensed broker dealer agent and insurance producer, and he advised the client regarding her retirement investments, held mostly in annuities.
Skypeck provided the client with misleading information about her annuity contracts in an effort to get her to exchange her old policies for new ones, officials indicated in the release. The client relied on his Skypeck's recommendations, which resulted in unnecessary penalties and restricted her access to her money. With each new purchase, Skypeck earned a commission.
Skypeck also instructed the client to withdraw just under $60,000 from one of her annuities, which he then used to purchase silver coins. Skypeck completed the transaction using his wife's name and forged his wife's signature on the relevant documentation, officials indicated. He received a commission for the coin sales as well and the client incurred a penalty for the withdrawal of the funds.
After having the coins delivered to the client's home, Skypeck took one box of coins, claiming that he would have them stored securely at a depository. When the client repeatedly inquired about the status of her coins over several months, he gave a variety of excuses as to why they were unavailable, including that he had stored them at his lake house, which he said was inaccessible due winter weather.
Skypeck later admitted that the coins were stored in his basement and that he had sold more than $5,000 worth of the coins to cover personal expenses, officials indicated.
The case came to the attention of regulators when the client contacted the Maine Office of Securities with concerns about how her accounts had been managed. The Office of Securities, while conducting its investigation into the criminal charges, brought the case to the attention of the Bureau of Insurance.
Skypeck is no longer licensed with the Office of Securities as a broker dealer agent and, in a consent agreement executed in June with the Maine Bureau of Insurance, he agreed to the revocation of his insurance license.
The Bureau of Insurance worked with the companies that issued the client's annuities to recover $9,820 in early surrender charges on her behalf.
Skypeck also agreed to pay a $1,000 civil penalty as part of the consent agreement.
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