Michael Shillin, former Alliance Global Advisor, Charged with Defrauding 100 Clients

The White Law Group is continuing its investigation involving former Wisconsin advisor Michael Shillin.  

According to the Securities and Exhange Commission (SEC) on January 22, the regulator has permanently barred former investment advisor Michael Shillin, who is also facing federal fraud charges. 

Shillin of Appleton, Wisconsin allegedly defrauded close to 100 clients, many of them elderly, between August 2014 and October 2020, according to the SEC and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

From 2011 until 2020, Shillin reportedly worked as an investment advisor and registered representative with several firms including Alliance Global Partners, Raymond James and Edward Jones. He also had his own firm,  Shillin Wealth Management, which managed close to 3,000 accounts and had $135 million in assets under management, according to the charges.  

Shillin allegedly made numerous misrepresentations to his clients including, “misstatements and omissions of material fact regarding the nature of his clients’ investments; false claims that he had invested clients’ funds in initial public offerings or pre-IPO stocks; false claims about the value of clients’ portfolios; and misstatements regarding Shillin’s termination from a previous employer,” according to the SEC. 

Shillin allegedly made misrepresentations to his advisory clients, many of whom were elderly. The SEC alleges that Shillin falsely told certain clients that they had successfully subscribed for IPO or pre-IPO shares in high-profile companies when they had not, and purportedly lied to clients about the true value of their investment portfolios, according to the complaint.  

Further, Shillin allegedly recommended several advisory clients roll over their existing life insurance policies into new policies, which caused certain clients to sell securities in order to pay premiums for policies that were non-existent or had far fewer benefits than Shillin allegedly claimed. Shillin purportedly defrauded hundreds of thousands of dollars from his clients. 

In addition to the SEC’s charges, Shillin was criminally charged with nine counts of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud last year.  If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud charge and a maximum of 30 years for the bank fraud charge. His trial is scheduled for August. 

To learn more about the firm’s investigation, please see: 

Barred Altoona Broker Michael Shillin has 27 Customer Complaints 

WEAU: Former Altoona Investment Advisor Barred from Securities Industry 

Alliance Global Advisor Michael Shillin Charged with Fraud *UPDATED* 

Filing a Complaint against your Brokerage Firm  

The White Law Group is currently representing investors who suffered losses investing with Michael Shillin in claims against their brokerage firms. 

Brokerage firms are required to adequately supervise their advisors. They must ensure they are complying with FINRA rules.  

When brokers abuse client accounts and conduct transactions that violate securities laws, the brokerage firm they are working with may be liable for investment losses. Brokerage firms that fail to monitor the business activities of their employees may be liable for investment losses due to negligent supervision for the misconduct of their employees.  

The brokerage firms can be held responsible for any losses in a FINRA arbitration claim if it is determined that they failed to properly supervise their agent.  

According to his FINRA BrokerCheck report, Shillin was affiliated with the following firms during his career in the securities industry: 

05/23/2018 – 10/05/2020, A.G.P. / ALLIANCE GLOBAL PARTNERS (CRD#:8361), Altoona, WI
08/21/2014 – 06/11/2018, RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC. (CRD#:6694), CHIPPEWA FALLS, WI
07/18/2011 – 08/22/2014, EDWARD JONES (CRD#:250),CHIPPEWA FALLS, WI 

If you have suffered losses investing with Michael Shillin, the securities attorneys at The White Law Group may be able to help you. For a free consultation with a securities attorney, please call our offices at (888) 637-5510. 

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 Seattle, Washington. For more information, please visit our website, www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.