New York Advisor Charged With Defrauding Clients Of $8 Million – InsuranceNewsNet

InsuranceNewsNet — Your Industry. One Source.™

Sign in
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Home Now reading Top Stories
Topics
    • Life Insurance
    • Annuity News
    • Health/Employee Benefits
    • Property and Casualty
    • Advisor News
    • Washington Wire
    • Regulation News
    • Sponsored Content
    • Webinars
    • Monthly Focus
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
Sign in or register to be an INNsider.
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
  • Insider
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Staff
  • Contact
  • Newsletters

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Advisor News
Top Stories RSS Get our newsletter
Order Prints
August 16, 2021 Top Stories No comments
Share
Share
Tweet
Email

New York Advisor Charged With Defrauding Clients Of $8 Million

A flurry of lawsuits is keeping courts busy trying to untangle an alleged IUL sales fraud scheme.
By Staff Reports

Martin Ruiz is charged with investment adviser fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud investors using his investment advisory firm, Carter Bain Wealth Management, federal officials say.

Ruiz appeared Friday before Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As alleged, Martin Ruiz promised his elderly investment advisory clients safe investments but in fact stole his clients’ retirement savings and lined his own pockets. Now, for this alleged violation of the law and of his fiduciary duty to his clients, Ruiz faces federal criminal charges.”

Special Agent-in-Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh said: “As alleged, with more than $8 million in misappropriated funds, Ruiz acted with impunity while building his own personal investments. Ruiz allegedly padded his lavish lifestyle by defrauding investors, many of them elderly working-class retirees, out of their life savings.

"No one should live their own version of ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’ by swindling others out of their hard-earned money. HSI New York’s El Dorado Task Force worked closely with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to see that Ruiz will now face the consequences of these alleged actions.”

According to the allegations contained in the complaint unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal court:

From at least in or about March 2011 through in or about the present, Ruiz induced multiple individual investment advisory clients of CBWM, many of whom are elderly, to retain Ruiz and CBWM to advise them on how they should invest their retirement savings.

While ostensibly acting in his fiduciary capacity as their investment adviser, Ruiz instead induced more than a dozen such clients to invest more than $10 million in an investment fund called RAM Fund through the purchase of limited partnership interests. Ruiz did not disclose to those clients that Ruiz controlled RAM Fund and that he planned to misappropriate their funds.

In fact, rather than invest the funds in legitimate investment projects and real estate, as he represented to clients, Ruiz misappropriated more than $8 million of client funds from the RAM Fund, transferred those funds through a series of entities Ruiz also controlled, and spent the vast majority of the funds on personal expenses, including the purchase of a home, rent payments on several apartments, and the payment of his personal credit card bills. In so doing, he violated his fiduciary duty to act in his clients’ best interest and avoid self-dealing.

* * *

Ruiz, 45, of New York, New York, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, is charged with one count of investment adviser fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of a defendant will be determined by the judge.

Ms. Strauss praised the investigative work of HSI. Ms. Strauss also thanked the Securities & Exchange Commission, which brought a related civil action against Ruiz.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kiersten A. Fletcher is in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty, officials stressed.

Older

NY Reports 3.7% Health Insurance Rate Hike For Individual Market

Newer

Michigan Reaches Deal To Cover Uninsured Vehicle Accident Victims

Advisor News

  • What Rising Prices Could Mean For Your Clients’ Retirement Plans
  • 38% Of Investors Pulled Money From Stock Market In The Past Year
  • Financial Focus: Retirement Money Management
  • Americans Spread Their Money Across More Firms, Survey Finds
  • Now Is A Good Time To Buy This Inflation Savings Bond
More Advisor News

Annuity News

  • LibertyMark Freedom Fixed Indexed Annuities Launch
  • Nationwide Adds BNP Paribas Global H-Factor Index To FIA
  • Transamerica Launches Structured Index Advantage Annuity
  • Recommending FIAs: Start With The Client’s Objective
  • NC Man Wins First $5 Million Prize In Scratch-Off Game
Sponsor
More Annuity News

Health/Employee Benefits News

  • AHIP’s Policy Roadmap Aimed At Increasing Health Care Access, Affordability
  • Don’t Fall For Joe Namath’s Ads
  • Health Insurance Can Now Help Some Californians Find Housing
  • $2.7B Settlement In CalPERS Long-Term Care Insurance Lawsuit Is Canceled
  • Virginia Poised To Review Eligibility Of 2 Million In Medicaid ‘Safe Haven’
More Health/Employee Benefits News

Life Insurance

  • The 5 Secrets To Retaining Financial Sales Professionals
  • Life Insurance Activity Continues Dip In April But Still Stronger Than 2021, MIB Reports
  • Transamerica Adds Execs To Annuity And Life Insurance Team
  • Northwestern Mutual Invests $5M In Black-Led Financial Institutions
  • Protective Life Closes On AUL Acquisition
More Life Insurance

- Presented By -

How to Write For InsuranceNewsNet

Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines

FEATURED OFFERS

Get Linked INN to your industry Connect with INN on LinkedIn to be first on all the news and insights that matter to your industry.

Press ReleasesAll press releases

  • OneAmerica Commits $1 Million Toward Financial Literacy
  • Transamerica Structured Index Advantage Annuity Offers Investors More Certainty with Upside Growth and Downside Protection
  • Senior Market Sales Creates First-of-Its-Kind Lead Acquisition Platform
  • Growing financial services firm Kuvare opens Des Moines office in East Village, continuing expansion in Iowa
  • BetterLife Selects iPipeline® to Digitally Transform Its Business & Better Serve Future Generations
Add your Press Release >

Topics

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • Advisor News
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Sponsored Content
  • Webinars
  • Monthly Focus

Top Sections

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits News
  • Property and Casualty News
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • Insurance Webinars

Our Company

  • About
  • Editorial Staff
  • Magazine
  • Write for INN
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sign up for our FREE e-Newsletter!

Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.

select Newsletter Options
Facebook Linkedin Twitter
© 2022 InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • AdvisorNews

Sign in with your INNsider Account

Not registered? Become an INNsider.