A San Diego man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for defrauding his clients and investors.
Clayton Marlow Anderson, Jr., a former attorney based in La Mesa, California, was found to have breached his duty as an attorney and a fiduciary by involving his clients in a scheme to solicit loans to finance the costs and fees related to construction defect lawsuits brought by his law firm.
Between 2005 and 2014, Anderson solicited unsecured loans from six individuals and paid them high rates of interest between 8% and 13% each year. However, Anderson eventually refashioned these unsecured loans as an investment with guaranteed interest, and pitched the investment to his legal clients.
In 2012, Anderson won a $1.8 million legal settlement for Jefferson Pointe Professional Corporation, who had hired Anderson to represent them in a construction defect lawsuit against the builders of their office park in Murrieta, California. Instead of paying his clients their rightful share of the legal settlement as required, Anderson repeatedly solicited them on behalf of ‘A-Plan Investment Services, Inc.’ promising JPPC a 13% annual return on their investment.
Anderson admitted that his pitch to his clients violated his duties as an attorney and that he made multiple false claims, including that A-Plan had over $1 million under management and that A-Plan was the beneficiary of a $4.4 million insurance policy on his life. Anderson admitted his clients invested $800,000 of their legal settlement into ‘A-Plan’ in reliance on his false claims, and that he engaged in other fraudulent conduct toward his clients.
On July 3, 2018, Anderson pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in connection with his fraudulent investment scheme. On November 9, 2018, Anderson was sentenced to serve 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay over $1.5 million in restitution to his victims.
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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