Former Utah Broker Thomas E. Andrews Under Investigation by the SEC

Thomas E. Andrews is Currently Serving Federal Prison Term

According to a press release, the SEC is charging Thomas E. Andrews with defrauding 23 investors. Andrews is already serving time in federal prison for said charges. According to the SEC’s  complaint, from 2010 through the fall of 2015, Andrews allegedly defrauded investors by convincing them to liquidate other investments and put their money in “the Jackson Trust” and “the Lincoln,” promising them high returns. The SEC alleges that the companies and investments were fake, and that Andrews purportedly used the investors’ funds to pay his personal expenses.

Andrews allegedly misappropriated $8,384,253 from investors and paid his assistant, Scott Christensen, $1 million.

The SEC’s Investigation

The SEC’s complaint charges the former broker and his assistant with violating sections of the Securities Acts, as well as charging Andrews with violating the Exchange Act for operating as an unregistered securities broker. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement and civil penalties.

In December, Andrews pleaded guilty to securities and mail fraud and was sentenced to 97 months in prison and ordered to pay $8,384,253 in restitution by a U.S. District Court judge in Utah. Last July, Andrew’s assistant, Scott Christensen pleaded guilty to securities fraud and making a false statement to a federal agent and later was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution.

According to FINRA BrokerCheck, Andrews was registered with LPL Financial in Salt Lake City from September 2005 until October 2015 when he was discharged for misappropriation of client funds. He has six disclosure events listed on his Broker Report, including two pending customer disputes. Allegations include mismanagement, churning, failure to supervise, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, selling away, unauthorized borrowing, and fraud.

The foregoing information, which is all publicly available, is being provided by The White Law Group.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Franklin, Tennessee.  For a free consultation with one of the firm’s securities attorneys, please call (888) 637-5510.

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