“The way I looked at it, their money was better off in my pocket. I knew how to spend it better.” – A line from “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Imagine working with police officers and firefighters.
They know you. They trust you. Does the thought cross your mind? Maybe I can get their retirement money.
Apparently it does when you are Florida Man.
Michael D. Williams of Port St. Lucie, Fla., worked for a company that administered pension plans for police officers and firefighters.
Unbeknownst to his employer, he set up a money-management side hustle he called Check Mate Investments, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
He raised about $860,000 from at least 18 investors. Several were current or retired law-enforcement officers
Turns out, he wasn’t a brilliant investor, just a guy who worked for a pension administrator.
On Wednesday, the SEC charged him with running a fraudulent investment scheme.
“We allege that one of the tactics the defendants used to trick investors was to send them cropped screenshots of graphics that showed exorbitant trading profits,” said Stephanie N. Moot, Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office.
In reality, Williams lost hundreds of thousands of dollars trading investor money and diverted nearly half of the $860,000 to personal expenses, including credit-card bills, a sports car and vacations, the SEC alleges.
This is a civil case and Williams and his firm have agreed to a settlement. Remarkably, given what the SEC says he did and to whom he did it to, he has not been charged with a crime.
Business Blunders readers have seen this movie before, and typically on a scale that involves millions or even billions. But on a twisted level, the audacity alleged here is almost admirable.
The SEC’s complaint says Williams told investors his fund was just $40,000 shy of its first $1 million. The message came with an image cribbed from the 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
First he allegedly picks cops as his marks. Then he leaves a clue.
