Anthony Diaz, Wire Fraud & Mail Fraud, Pennsylvania 2020

SCRANTON - In a shocking turn of events, East Stroudsburg financial planner Anthony Diaz, 52, has been convicted of a scheme to defraud his clients.

A jury of 12 delivered the guilty verdict on January 30, 2020, after approximately eight hours of deliberation. Diaz was found guilty of seven counts of wire fraud and four counts of mail fraud, all stemming from the same scheme.

According to U.S. Attorney David J. Freed, schemes like this one committed by unscrupulous investment advisors seeking to line their own pockets by selling high-risk and high-commission securities to unsophisticated investors based on lies about the safety of the security and net worth of the investor are 'fraud, pure and simple.'

The evidence presented at trial showed that from approximately 2008 through April 2015, Diaz owned and operated Financial Planners Group of America, a financial planning business in East Stroudsburg and Scotrun, Pennsylvania. Diaz persuaded his clients to invest in high-risk, illiquid 'alternative investment products,' including real estate investment trusts, business development companies, oil and gas drilling companies, and equipment leasing companies.

A dozen of Diaz's former clients testified at trial that Diaz convinced them to invest their life savings in the alternative investments through a series of false representations, including that the investments were low-risk, with guaranteed protection of principal and guaranteed rates of return, and that the investments were liquid, giving investors access to their funds in an emergency.

At trial, jurors saw extensive client documentation bearing false information about the clients' assets, risk tolerance, investment experience, and investment objectives. Clients testified that Diaz regularly had them sign blank documents, with the promise that missing information would be filled in by his office. Former employees of Diaz testified that he ordered them to add false information to the account forms, inflating clients' assets, risk tolerance, and investment experience to qualify them as suitable investors for the alternative investments.

The defendant was convicted of the following crimes: seven counts of wire fraud and four counts of mail fraud. The case sends a strong message to others in the industry that similar misconduct will not be tolerated and will have potential criminal consequences as well as the more common civil consequences.

Defendant Information: Anthony Diaz, 52, of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

Criminal Charges: Seven counts of wire fraud and four counts of mail fraud.

City and State: Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Date: January 30, 2020.

Sentence: Convicted and awaiting sentencing.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/east-stroudsburg-financial-planner-convicted-scheme-defraud-his-clients