Defendant Name, Crime, State Year
Robert G. Bard, a 47-year-old investment advisor from Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania, has been convicted of 21 counts of fraud-related offenses in a seven-day jury trial in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Bard, who was the owner and operator of Vision Specialist Group (VSG) from December 2004 to August 2009, was found guilty of defrauding numerous investors by misrepresenting the value and make-up of their investment portfolios. The scheme involved creating phony account statements that significantly inflated the value of the investors’ accounts and included securities that were not owned by the investor.
Bard concealed over $3 million in losses his clients sustained between 2006 and 2009 by purchasing risky and speculative stocks on their behalf. He also failed to inform his clients that he was terminated from his prior employment as a stock broker for forging customer signatures on financial documents, had received a lifetime ban from the National Association of Securities Dealers, and had declared personal bankruptcy in 2005.
The jury convicted Bard of 14 wire fraud charges, three mail fraud charges, one securities fraud charge, one bank fraud charge, and one false statements charge. He faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment on each of the wire and securities fraud charges, up to 30 years’ imprisonment on the bank fraud charge, and up to five years’ imprisonment on the false statements charge.
Bard was previously held liable for a civil penalty of $2.5 million as well as disgorgement of $450,000 in profits in connection with a prior civil proceeding brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Senior Litigation Counsel Bruce Brandler handled the prosecution. No date was set for sentencing.
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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